Kansas

‘It looked like an umbilical cord.’ Residents clean up after deadly Kansas tornado

Published

2 years ago

May 1, 2024

‘It looked like an umbilical cord.’ Residents clean up after deadly Kansas tornado

WESTMORELAND — With a tornado headed directly toward their Westmoreland home, retirees Barry and Beverly Toburen sought refuge Tuesday with their three dogs in their bathroom.

The lights flickered off, came back on, then flickered off again, Barry Toburen told The Capital-Journal on Wednesday.

Then the tornado hit.

“My ears popped real loud, and everything went sideways there,” Toburen said. “It blew the door in on me, knocked me over on top of the wife, and then all of a sudden, it got real light. Obviously, it got light because the roof was gone. And then the sheetrock and everything came down on top of us.”

The Toburens’ home was in or near ground zero of the area hit by Tuesday’s tornado, which Pottawatomie County public information officer Becky Ryan said killed one person, caused minor injuries to three others, destroyed 22 homes and left 13 homes damaged but livable.

The name, age and gender of the person who died wasn’t being immediately released.

‘It looked like an umbilical cord’

Leslie Campbell said her husband videotaped the tornado on his cellphone as they watched it from a large hill.

The tornado “didn’t look like a tornado,” Campbell said. “It looked like an umbilical cord.”

“It was really long, and it didn’t touch down for a long time, and finally we saw it touch down,” she said.

Campbell said the homes damaged in Westmoreland included that of her mother-in-law, Linda Campbell.

Father and son sought shelter in hallway as tornado destroyed home

Ashley Van Gilder, a Westmoreland resident whose home was among those hit, described what happened as being “just devastating.”

She said she wasn’t home at the time, but her husband and their 8-year-old son Joseph were.

Joseph said he and his father sought shelter in a hallway of their home as the tornado loudly passed though.

“It was very weird,” he said. “We heard it touch down. It was cracking and stuff.”

Joseph’s father held him down as the tornado passed through, he said.

The family’s hallway has always been its “safe place” during times of potential severe weather, though members had talked earlier this week about potentially finding an alternative, Ashley VanGilder said.

Westmoreland family digs out from destroyed home

Barry Toburen, whose house was destroyed, said he had stood outside watching as the twister approached.

“The wife said, ‘Get your butt in the house!” he said.

Later, after crawling out from the wreckage, Barry Toburen said he realized that a large limb had been coming toward his head but stopped just short of it.

The tornado destroyed items that included Barry Toburen’s brand new lawnmower.

“I mowed the yard twice with it,” he said, with a laugh.

Barry Toburen said he managed to recover other items that included medals he’d been awarded while in the military.

He said he and his wife had gotten a motel room in nearby Wamego and were boarding their three dogs with a veterinarian there.

Another Westmoreland family is trying to salvage ‘sentimental things’

Jason Resser said he was away when the tornado went straight down the middle of the house where he has lived for 24 years.

“Everything in the core of the house is completely gone,” said Resser, who is manager of Westmoreland’s Dollar General Store.

He said he and his wife and children were looking Wednesday for “sentimental things” and furniture they could reuse.

Spokeswoman: 175 people turned out to help clean up debris

A team from the National Weather Service’s Topeka office was in Westmoreland on Wednesday assessing the damage and determining Tuesday’s tornado’s rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale used to measure tornado intensity, said Nathan Griesemer, a meteorologist for that office.

Storm surveys were also being conducted in Shawnee, Jefferson and Nemaha counties.

In addition to the houses that were hit, the tornado destroyed five outbuildings, including one each owned by Pottawatomie County and housing its recycling processing and noxious weed operations, said Ryan, the Pottawatomie County public information officer.

Pottawatomie County offices, which are based in Westmoreland, were closed to the public Wednesday.

More than 175 people were in Westmoreland on Wednesday helping clean up debris, Ryan said, describing that turnout as “amazing.”

Those helping clean up included at least 30 teachers and other employees from local schools.

The American Red Cross on Tuesday evening provided a temporary shelter at Rock Creek High School, Ryan said. That was being moved Wednesday to the Westmoreland Community Building, she said.

The Salvation Army was on hand providing meals, she said.

Tuesday’s tornado fatality was the first in Kansas since Richard D. Slade, 53, was killed Feb. 28, 2012, by a EF-2 tornado that struck his home at Harveyville in Wabaunsee County.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

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Kansas

Kansas City barbecue pitmaster Arthur Lee Sr. killed in hit-and-run crash while riding his scooter

Published

10 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Kansas City barbecue pitmaster Arthur Lee Sr. killed in hit-and-run crash while riding his scooter

KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks covers stories providing solutions and offering discussions on topics of crime and violence. She also covers stories in the Northland. Share your story idea with La’Nita.

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Kansas City barbecue pitmaster Arthur Lee Sr. was killed in an early morning hit-and-run crash while riding his scooter March 21.

Kansas City barbecue pitmaster Arthur Lee Sr. killed in hit-and-run crash

Lee was turning left from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard onto Eastwood Trafficway when a car ran a red light and hit him. A small memorial now grows at the intersection.

Chris Morrison

Arthur Lee Jr, son of Arthur Lee Sr.

“Devastated. Everybody’s hurt, it was really unexpected,” his son Arthur Lee Jr. said. “I loved him to death. My dad was like my best friend.”

Lee was well known in the barbecue community, working as a pitmaster at Gates Bar-B-Q for the past eight years after spending two decades at Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque.

“He loved working at Gates,” Rose Qualls, Lee’s sister-in-law, said. “He was always making us slabs and turkey sandwiches.”

The morning of the incident, Lee was preparing to move into a new home with his wife and children, getting ready for a fresh start before a tragic end.

“He was really special, you know. He was one of a kind and everybody that he was around just loved him,” Qualls said. “It’s just a sad situation.”

Lee was 60 years old. His family said while his life was cut short, his flame will burn forever.

“My sister, she is really going through it, we all are,” Qualls said. “And I’m here for her, whatever she needs, when she need a shoulder to cry on, I’m here.”

Kansas City barbecue pitmaster Arthur Lee Sr. killed in a hit-and-run crash while riding his scooter — Kansas City barbecue pitmaster Arthur Lee Sr. was killed in a hit-and-run crash while riding his scooter.

The family is pleading for answers and for the driver, who fled the scene, to come forward.

“I would pray that they would have some type of compassion, some type of heart, possibly turn themselves in,” Lee Jr. said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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Kansas

Kansas felon sold meth to undercover officer multiple times

Published

22 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Kansas felon sold meth to undercover officer multiple times

Fleming photo KDOC

WICHITA, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced to 120 months in prison for selling methamphetamine to an undercover police officer, according to the United State’s Attorney.

According to court documents, Wayne F. Fleming, 41, of Wichita pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of a controlled substance.

In May 2021, Fleming sold drugs multiple times to an undercover officer with the Wichita Police Department. Testing by the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center showed the total amount Fleming sold to the officer to be more than 200 grams of pure methamphetamine.

“Mr. Fleming was federally indicted in 2021, but before a plea agreement was reached, Mr. Fleming went to state prison to serve time for offenses unrelated to the federal case,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. “The Department of Justice doesn’t forget. Not long after his release from a state prison, Mr. Fleming is now an inmate in a federal prison.”

The Wichita Police Department investigated the case.

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Kansas

Extra slice, extra time: Kansas inmate’s pizza grab lands him 16 more months in prison

Published

1 day ago

March 25, 2026

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Extra slice, extra time: Kansas inmate’s pizza grab lands him 16 more months in prison

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (KCTV) – A Kansas inmate will spend more time behind bars after a dispute over an extra slice of pizza turned physical.

Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson announced on Wednesday, March 25, that Wyatt C. Parnell, 42, an inmate at Lansing Correctional Facility, was sentenced to 16 additional months.

Prosecutors indicated that the sentence is the result of an attempt to assault a corrections officer during a December 2019 dining hall confrontation.

What Happened

Court records noted that the incident happened around 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2019 – the day after Christmas – in the facility’s maximum-security dining room.

According to prosecutors, Parnell entered the dining hall, picked up a dinner tray and grabbed an extra slice of pizza from a separate tray.

A corrections officer repeatedly ordered him to put the tray down and leave the area; however, court documents revealed that Parnell refused.

Wyatt C. Parnell, 42(Kansas Department of Corrections)

When the officer moved to retrieve the tray and again ordered Parnell to leave, prosecutors said he yanked the tray away and threw it on the floor.

Parnell then tried to push past the officer to reach the serving line for another tray, according to court records.

The officer reported that they attempted to detain Parnell, but he resisted, leading to a physical fight.

The Charges & Sentence

Court records indicated that Parnell pleaded no contest to attempted aggravated battery. His new sentence will run consecutively – meaning it is added to the sentence he is already serving.

“Correctional facilities rely on order and compliance to maintain safety for both staff and inmates,” Thompson said. “This sentence reflects the seriousness of disregarding lawful commands and engaging in behavior that puts others at risk.”