KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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Ottawa residents came together Tuesday to help clean up debris after an EF2 tornado hit the town of approximately 12,700 people Monday evening.
The tornado moved 7.3 miles over 25 minutes with a peak wind speed of 125 mph, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Three people were injured, per the NWS report.
Late Monday night and into the early morning Tuesday, residents took in the damage in the dark.
Randy McCurdy's family has owned McCurdy's Auto Sales & Auto Services on the corner of East 17th and South Main streets for decades. Both his father and his younger brother have died.
"There's a lot of memories here," McCurdy said just before midnight on Monday.
Part of the building's roof was ripped off, a part of the building's structure was knocked over and a customer's car was turned sideways in the storm. Because the building's windows were broken, McCurdy said he was going to stay up through the night to keep watch over the auto shop's valuable parts.
"I'm waiting for the sun to come up so we can see, see what we had inside here and where it's scattered at," McCurdy said.
Next door to McCurdy's auto shop is the Knights Inn. The hotel suffered damage to multiple buildings at its complex as people were staying there, according to the owners.
When the sun came up Tuesday morning, residents got to work helping their neighbors clear debris from their yards.
Ottawa USD 290 canceled school Tuesday because of the tornado, but that didn't stop Aubry and Ainsly Michel from waking up early to rally the Ottawa High School softball team to help their neighbors in southeast Ottawa.
"They all came out here and showed up," Ainsly Michel, the team's center fielder, said. "You have that team chemistry together and it’s like another bonding activity.”
Ainsly Michel said the tornado moved quickly over her house.
"Our ears popped and everything, we heard the train, and then it was gone," she said.
The Orchard Heights neighborhood saw damage to many trees and some damage to homes. The Michel sisters said their home sustained damage to the back porch.
Their neighbors stepped up to help their family clean up the mess. They gave back by returning the favor.
“It’s cool to see our community join together and just become one," Aubry Michel said. "A lot of times, you don’t really think about things like that happening.”
Just down the road is Laura Kuczmarski's house. She said she was overwhelmed with the gratitude she felt for the way her neighbors showed up to help one another.
“I thank God," she said. "I think my emotions are praise to God. He protected us, my beautiful grandchildren.”
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