Kansas City Tornados on May 4, 2003

On May 4, 2003, my son, Bryan, was fishing in a bass tournament at Smithville Lake - North of Kansas City, MO. I had fished with him the day before. We knew that there were potential weather problems for day of the the contest, a Sunday. Since I would be home all day and since he had a cel phone so I could call him, I agreed to be a weather spotter for him. (Sometimes on a large lake when out in a boat, it is easy to get into a cove and not see fast moving storms.)

I was online all day and other than some pretty windy times, all seemed OK. The contest ended at 3:00 PM. I really had no reason to call him all day. In fact, he doesn't usually even take time to eat during one of the events because it takes time away from the goal - get the big ones and win the contest.

I allowed time for him to get packed and on the road before giving him that call to see how he did in the contest. (Unfortunately, not worth a hoot this time.) Our conversation was short. He was on I-435 heading towards home which is near Wichita, KS. I headed for the car to go do a little shopping.

As soon as I left my house and turned on the radio to 710-AM, I heard meterologist, Katie Horner talking about a tornado on the ground near Levenworth, KS. I immediately called Bryan and asked if he had seen any tornados. There was silence for a few seconds, then, "Is that a tornato! Is that a tornado! Damn! There's one right in front of us and we are heading straight for it. Gotta get off the phone right now! Below are the digital pics Bryan and his fishing partner took in the next few minutes before heading for a ditch to take cover.

Later, Bryan and I talked. He said that after they came out from under a culvert where they hid from the storm, his truck and boat were plastered with household insulation and papers from someone's house. He moved on down the road.

After unloading his pics, Bryan wrote, "I have quite a few pics but they don't do it justice. This looks pretty small in the pictures but I can tell you, it wasn't nearly as small as it looks in the pics."

That's when another tornado headed for our house in Kansas City North. We were fortunate that this one took a couple turns and missed us by a bit.

A huge THANKS to Katie Horner for feeding just the right information at the right time!! GREAT JOB!!