TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – What started as a regular Monday night for Topeka resident Courtney Sterbenz took a turn for the worse when severe weather moved through the area.
“I lived out in this community my entire life, and I’ve never experienced anything quite like last night,” Sterbenz said.
Sterbenz said sirens on the WIBW app started going off a little after midnight, and her 16-year-old came running in saying tornado sirens were going off.
“It was maybe 5-10 minutes after that, just this crazy pressure in the house, and this noise that sounded like that train, you know, that you hear people talking about. I’ve never experienced that,” she said.
The storm had a significant impact on her home.
“I ran up to the top level of the house to look out my 18-year-old daughter’s bedroom window, and saw there was a tree right there — there’s not normally,” Sterbenz said. “And then, it just kinda progressed. We came out once the rain let up, and saw this.”
Topeka resident Marvin Rues said he didn’t know what was going on during the storm.
“But today, looking at this, that’s actually the neighbor’s tree ripped all the way off, and I bet the winds were, what? 90 miles per hour, I bet,” Rues said.
Residents offered help to neighbors in the aftermath.
“It just shows how we can come together. We can get along in times of trouble. Put our differences aside, make sure everybody is safe, has what they need,” said Hunter Balsmeier, a Topeka resident.
Debris pickup services with city and county crews are underway. Services offered by the City of Topeka and Shawnee County are available here.
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