What if Greensburg twisters had hit Wichita?

“We would prefer people find shelter close”

National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Hutton was studying the tracks of the May 4 tornado outbreak in central Kansas, which included the tornado that wiped out Greensburg.

Wondering what would happen if a similar tornado hit a more populated area, he decided to overlay the tracks onto the Wichita metropolitan area.

'I looked at it and went 'Oh, my God,' said Hutton, who works in the service's Dodge City bureau.

The outbreak on May 4 included four large tornadoes at least a mile wide. Had that same outbreak hit the Wichita area, the towns of Clearwater and Park City would have been destroyed. West Wichita, Riverside and the heart of the city would all take devastating hits. Much of north Wichita would be gone. Read more