KSHB 41 anchor/reporter JuYeon Kim covers agricultural issues and the fentanyl crisis. Share your story idea with JuYeon.
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Miami County has been one of the hardest hit areas by the recent stretch of severe storms in the Kansas City area.
An EF2 tornado whipped through neighborhoods around Hillsdale Lake on Monday, April 13.
Two days later, the Miami County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management announced that the City of Osawatomie, the City of Paola, and Miami County all verbally declared a state of emergency due to “extensive damage” from the hailstorm.
Then on Sunday, April 26, residents in Miami County once again found themselves in the path of a tornado-warned storm.
Miami County Undersheriff Matthew Kelly told KSHB 41's JuYeon Kim that the community is on edge.
“I think there's some severe weather trauma that we’re seeing down here where people are scared to have a storm come through the area now,” Kelly said. “When you have a tornado, and then you have severe hail storms, and then straight line winds, we’ve kind of seen it all in the severe weather capacity, and the community is just over it.”
Kelly says the immediate needs of families were met thanks to the daily collaboration between EMS, law enforcement, nonprofits and community members.
Because of their year-round tabletop training, people knew who to call when disaster struck. Every city in Miami County, for example, came to assist Hillsdale.
Emergency medical personnel sent ambulances, and the fire department sent Task Force 3 for search-and-rescue efforts.
Following the storms, the priority was to make sure people had a safe place to be. Donations poured in for food, water, tarps, heavy equipment for lifting, and volunteers.
But now, their biggest concern is financial needs going forward.
“None of these has met a 'natural disaster' through the federal government, so FEMA is not involved in this. And trying to get funding through FEMA is not gonna be happening with these storms, unfortunately,” Kelly said. “It’s gonna be difficult for a lot of individuals to not only take care of one claim, but now you’re taking care of two, three or more claims due to one storm.”
Kelly says that those who want to donate can give to the Miami County Sheriff’s Fund.
“There’s been so much support for everybody, which I think has been amazing. But we’re at a point, I think, where everybody is just ready to lie down for a little bit. Calm down, clean up where we’re at so that things can get back to normal. And so were gonna try to help anybody that we can to try to get back to that normal life,” Kelly said.
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