Kansas City airport halts flights during storm

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Kansas City International Airport has temporarily suspended flights and moved people from the terminals to parking garage tunnels for shelter because of storms passing through the area including tornadoes.

Passengers were in parking garages for about an hour before being allowed to return to the terminals.

But the storm left so much debris on the airfield that flights remained delayed, the airport’s Twitter account said. It wasn’t immediately clear when flights would resume. Phone and email messages left with airport spokesman Joe McBride were not immediately returned.

INCREDIBLE IMAGES coming in from a Tornado Warned storm just south of Lawrence, Kansas. LIVE: https://t.co/SRLkD88dRT pic.twitter.com/2BqEjInDld

— 41 Action News (@41actionnews) May 28, 2019

At least 11 injuries have been reported in Douglas County, Kan., after the county west of Kansas City was hit with a large destructive tornado.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Douglas County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Jenn Hethcoat said six people had been taken to the Lawrence hospital with injuries suffered during the storm, including one with serious injuries, and five more people were headed to the hospital.

Police said most of the damage in the county appeared to be outside the Lawrence city limits, but there were damaged trees, power lines and other debris on the southeastern edge of the city, and some roads were impassable.

JUST IN: Possible tornado touches down in Kansas. https://t.co/lIBRAOJIA3 pic.twitter.com/IyMHdSZ7Ow

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 29, 2019

The sheriff’s office said that “several houses throughout the county” had sustained damage.

The newspaper said the tornado was confirmed near Lone Star Lake, southwest of Lawrence, around 6:10 p.m., and moved to the north and east, according to social media posts from the Lawrence Police Department.