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Kansas Tornado Victims Identified

Victims Were Young Mother, Farmer

The victims of this week's deadly tornadoes have been identified as a 21-year-old woman from Chapman and a 62-year-old Jackson County farmer who was thrown from his mobile home after a twister picked it up.

A tornado between the tiny towns of Soldier and Circleville threw George Askren's home about 225 yards, crushing it and blocking a local road, county Undersheriff Danny Howerton said. Askren's body was found about 50 yards closer to where the home had been.

A funeral home in nearby Abilene confirmed that the victim in Chapman was Crystal Bishop. Her obituary said she was attending Cloud County Community College. Authorities have said she was found outside in a yard.

Bishop's father said Bishop, her boyfriend and her 18-month-old daughter didn't have a basement. They left their house to seek shelter elsewhere, and that was when Bishop was killed.

Her boyfriend and daughter suffered only minor injuries.

Bishop's neighbor tried to save her by performing CPR after the twister passed.

The neighbor was too upset to discuss the ordeal, but his wife, Elizabeth Diaz, said, "Our prayers just go out to the family for their loss. I'm sorry. I didn't know that they were there or we would have brought them down to our basement in a heartbeat. It wouldn't have been a problem. I know my husband did everything he could to help her."

Bishop graduated from Chapman High School. Her father said she was studying to become a police detective.

Bishop and Askren both died Wednesday night, as tornadoes roared through Chapman, Manhattan and northern Jackson County. While there were no reports of serious injuries in Manhattan, the twister there caused more than $20 million in damage to the Kansas State University campus.

Storms continued Thursday night across eastern Kansas. The National Weather Service said five tornadoes were spotted in Chase, Lyon and Shawnee counties, though no damage was reported from them. Inch-sized hail pounded communities across the region, and some of them experienced flash flooding.

But the weather was calmer Friday.

"We're going to get a break," said John Woynick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Topeka. "There will be a small chance of storms coming back again late Saturday night into Sunday."

In Jackson County, the victim, Askren, lived along the Jackson-Nemaha county line, between Soldier, with about 120 residents, and Circleville, with about 180, and had a Circleville address. His funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Circleville United Methodist Church.

Howerton said sheriff's officers surveyed the area Thursday in a Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter and saw that Askren's home took a direct hit from the twister.

"He was found outside the mobile home. He'd been thrown out of it," Howerton said. "The detectives who were in the helicopter could see the path for the tornado came through right where his house sat."

Officials initially estimated the damage in Chapman at more than $20 million and said the tornado heavily damaged or destroyed 65 buildings or homes, meaning between half to 60 percent of Chapman's buildings were hit. Its schools were heavily damaged.

The city set up a disaster relief fund and was asking for donations of tents, ropes, gloves and trash bags -- but no clothes. On Saturday, it planned to allow volunteers into the community of about 1,400 residents, 70 miles west of Topeka.

"We certainly would take the help," said Brad Homman, director of administration and emergency services for Dickinson County.

A curfew remained in effect between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., and the city told police, firefighters, emergency workers and disaster relief crews not to use sirens. That's because the town's tornado sirens were blown down, and it will use vehicle sirens to warn residents should another storm come, Homman said.

While storms continued Thursday, the affected communities were luckier those hit Wednesday night.

The weather service said a tornado was reported outside of Topeka, near Washburn Rural High School. Three were within 45 minutes southwest and southeast of Cottonwood Falls.

Also, the weather service said, another was spotted along the Kansas Turnpike southwest of its Admire exit, in Lyon County.

"It's mainly open country down there was well, through the Flint Hills," Woynick said after noting that no damage was reported.


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