A tornado destroyed the water tower in Jewell Thursday night, creating a loss of pressure in the water distribution system and prompting the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to issue a boil water advisory for residents of the Jewell County town.
Water pressure is expected to be restored this afternoon, KDHE officials said, but whenever there is a loss of pressure it is possible for contaminants to enter the system. Also, chlorine
residuals may drop to levels that are inadequate to protect against bacterial contamination.
Residents of Jewell, a town of about 500 residents 10 miles south of Mankato, are being asked to take the following steps:
Boil water for one minute prior to drinking or food preparation, or use bottled water.
Dispose of ice cubes and do not use ice from a household automatic icemaker.
Disinfect dishes and other food contact surfaces by immersion for at least one minute in clean tap water that contains one teaspoon of unscented household bleach per gallon of water.
If the tap water appears dirty, flush the water lines by letting the water run until it clears.
The advisory will remain in effect until testing of water samples indicates no evidence of contamination and all other conditions which place the systems at risk of contamination are deemed by KDHE officials to be resolved.
The tornado also destroyed a trucking company and a cafe in Jewell, but no serious injuries were reported.
Tornadoes were reported in five states as part of Thursday’s outbreak: Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Wyoming. The Storm Prediction Center logged 20 tornado reports in northern Kansas, encompassing Jewell, Republic, Rooks, Sheridan, Mitchell and Osborne counties.
There were 19 tornadoes reported in Nebraska, 10 in Iowa, six in South Dakota and two in Wyoming. The actual number of tornadoes that touched down is almost certainly to be less, however, since multiple reports could be different locations or angles of the same tornado.
Thankfully, no fatalities were reported.
If the skies ahead are looking dangerous as you’re driving down the road, don’t count on law enforcement officers to pull you over and warn you that there’s a tornado coming. They may be too busy with more pressing duties to chase down motorists who are heading into potentially dangerous weather conditions.
I don’t think there is a policy on that,” said Lt. Annette Haga of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s going to depend what the situation is and what else is going on.”
Two vehicles were hit by a large tornado west of Cunningham the night of May 23; two brothers in a pickup survived, but a Colorado couple in a car was killed.
There is only one Kansas Highway Patrol trooper for every 4,300 residents of the state, Trooper Edna Buttler said, so they’re not always able to respond quickly to threats at a given location.
“If we’re aware of it and have the manpower, normally we do a pretty good job, I would say,” Buttler said.
For more on how drivers can protect themselves during threatening weather, see Sunday’s Eagle.