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EF2 tornado in Jackson County, Kansas

Tornado June 11, 2008 · Jackson County, Kansas

EF2
Rating
17.3 mi
Whole path
300 yd
Path width
2
Deaths

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Pottawatomie County → Jackson County → Nemaha County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This is the second segment of a tornado that initially touched down in Pottawatomie County and then continued northeast into Jackson County before continuing northeast and dissipating in Nemaha County. This is segment 2 of 3. Upon entering Jackson County the tornado did EF1 and EF0 damage primarily to outbuildings, power poles and large trees. As the tornado continued northeast, it moved south of Soldier causing extensive damage to two farmsteads. One residence was blown off of its foundation while another sustained extensive damage to its external walls and roof. All surrounding outbuildings were destroyed. The tornado continued northeast, striking a mobile home just south of the Nemaha County border. The mobile home was destroyed, and the occupant sustained fatal injuries. The tornado then continued northeast into Nemaha County.

The wider storm

Two long lived supercells wreaked havoc across portions of north central and northeast Kansas on the night of June 11th. Three significant tornadoes touched down, caused millions of dollars in damage, killed two, and critically injured three citizens. The town of Chapman saw the most extensive damage. Approximately three-quarters of the town were damaged by the tornado that passed through. Numerous homes were demolished, as were both the middle school and high school. One death occurred in Chapman, as a result of flying debris striking a young woman while she protected her child. The most severe, but more localized damage occurred in the Miller Ranch neighborhood in Manhattan, where several homes were completely destroyed. The Soldier, Kansas tornado was responsible for the other death. A man was killed in his mobile home when it flipped several times and was found a few miles from it's original location. The unoccupied home a few hundred feet from the mobile home went virtually untouched. Thousands of citizens turned up over the next few weeks to help with the clean-up effort in both Chapman and Manhattan.

Began near Soldier (39.5031, -96.0356).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

4 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 125025. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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