Two Prairie Village police officers got a firsthand look at the destruction left behind by the recent tornado outbreak when they worked a shift in Reading, Kan., following the twister that struck the small town south of Topeka May 21.
Officers Rick Bohon and Cody Stech volunteered to answer a call for assistance after the tornado, which damaged more than 50 of the 110 homes in the town. They arrived the Tuesday after the tornado to help with traffic control, keeping motorists off of roads where debris and unstable electrical fixtures posed danger.
“The town was quiet,” Bohon said. “You could tell a lot of people who would normally be out and about had left. Roofs were ripped off buildings. Debris was everywhere.”
Volunteering for duty in a disaster stricken area was nothing new for Bohon. After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, he responded to a call for assistance for law enforcement help issued by the state of Mississippi.
Though the scale is smaller, Bohon said, the impact of the tornado in Reading is similar to the damage done by Katrina.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect it to be as bad as it was,” he said. “It was devastating to the town.”
Bohon said the best way to offer assistance to the people of Reading and other towns hit by the recent storms was donations of blood and money through the Red Cross.