KWCH - Kansas News and Weather - Winds Whip Kansas, Cause Headaches Statewide

Winds Whip Kansas, Cause Headaches Statewide

by Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.)

Strong winds whipped through Kansas Monday causing problems all over the state.

The Highway Patrol reported 13 vehicles blown off the road in central Kansas.  Most were semis overturned and seemingly playing dead on the side of I-70.

Hutchinson Police shut down several downtown streets after strong winds blew steel sheeting off the roof of a downtown building.

The wind even frustrated people getting around Wichita.  Wendy Garrett found the wind especially annoying as she tried to get around on her crutches.

"It's pretty windy for crutches," Garrett said.  "The wind'll me and blow me whichever way the wind's coming and there go the crutches!"

Westar Energy says strong winds likely broke a Wichita power line, knocking out power to hundreds of nearby homes and starting a small grassfire.

Wind gusts in Wichita topped out in the mid-50's, while Concordia saw the strongest gust in the KWCH viewing area at 67 miles per hour.  Winds were recorded at more than 90 miles per hour at a prairie research site about five miles south of Manhattan.