Survey crews from the National Weather Service in Kansas City are assessing the damage after severe storms tore through the state Tuesday evening. In this GOES East view from 6 p.m. CDT on May 28, 2019, you can see the thunderstorms already starting to bubble up over northeastern Kansas.
The destructive storms prompted a tornado emergency in Lawrence, Kan., and sent at least a dozen people to the hospital with storm-related injuries, according to LMH Health. Significant roof and tree damage, overturned vehicles and downed power lines were reported, according to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center. In addition, the Kansas City International Airport was forced to close its airfield due to storm debris.
“We apologize for the inconvenience,” airport personnel tweeted when the runway reopened shortly after midnight. “A tornado destroyed homes and businesses miles away & debris rained down onto the airport. Our crews had to clean it up in order to be safe.”
This imagery was captured by the satellite's visible band 2, which is useful for monitoring clouds and moisture imagery as well as a cloud's optical depth (or height) during severe weather events such as thunderstorms.