Kansas tornado generated 165mph winds as it destroyed homes

A tornado that damaged more than 1,000 buildings in Kansas in the US generated winds of up to 165mph and carved a path of destruction nearly 13 miles long.

The National Weather Service said the tornado that caused extensive damage on Friday mostly in the Wichita suburb of Andover and injured several people, rated an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale it uses to assess tornadoes.

The weather service said the tornado was on the ground for 21 minutes on Friday evening.

Four people, including two firefighters who were responding to a call in Andover, were hurt during the storm but their injuries were minor.

“The city of Andover will be affected by this for years,” he said.

“We still have scars from 1991 (EF-5 tornado). I’m so thankful this tornado was not as bad as that, but we will literally be doing this for years.”

By Sunday, utility crews had restored power to nearly all of the more than 15,000 customers who lost power during the storm.

Evergy said less than 1,000 people remained without power in the Wichita area on Sunday morning.