On the evening of May 12th, a series of storms began rolling through Butler County. Though they seemed relatively benign at first, that changed around 8 pm when Emergency Management received word of an accident on the KTA. Power lines were down across the Turnpike at Exit 71 (El Dorado), and several semi-trucks had crashed after becoming entangled in the fallen lines. After reviewing the scene, as well as combing through radar images with the National Weather Service, it was determined that gusting storm winds (likely from a microburst) brought down the lines, leading to the accident. Other storms that rolled through that evening produced small funnel clouds, rainfall of 2" and greater, and impressive lightning. Below are a few of the pictures taken that evening (the lightning pictures are provided courtesy of Dan McCoy, all others were taken by Emergency Mgmt).

Responders on scene at the Kansas Turnpike and Hwy 254

In "sling-shot" fashion, one semi was whipped around under the Hwy 254 overpass after getting tangled in the fallen power lines.

As many as six power poles (running parallel to Hwy 254) came down, leading to power outages for thousands of residents of El Dorado.

Lightning bolts lit up the sky as yet another storm cell moved through the county. (Pictures by Dan McCoy)

More storm damage was found the next morning when Emergency Mgmt was out performing damage assessments in the El Dorado/KTA area.