Tornado terror for touring Aussie rugby stars
The Australian women’s rugby team was forced to take shelter in their hotel after tornado activity in Kansas sparked alarms late at night and caused panic among players.
The Wallaroos, who are in America as part of the Pacific Four Series, are in Kansas City ahead of their match against the US women’s team on Saturday morning (AEST).
But their preparations took a scary turn on Monday night (Tuesday AEST) when severe storm activity in the city was upgraded to a “Tornado watch warning” after a tornado was confirmed to touch down in the nearby suburbs of Ottawa and Harrisonville.
Kansas City is part of the region in Central America known as “Tornado Alley” due to destructive storm activity between April and June.
As the Wallaroos players were getting ready for bed after a day of practice, an alarm went off and hotel staff instructed them to go to the interior of the Sheraton Overland Park, away from the windows.
A tornado had touched down in an area 30 minutes from the Wallaroos’ hotel in Overland Park, but radar showed the same storm front passing directly over them in the next few hours.
The Wallaroos’ players gathered in the lane as the storm front passed.
“We trained for the first time in Kansas today, there were pretty strong winds and hot weather, but we didn’t think anything of it,” Wallaroos winger Maya Stewart said.
“There was a storm in the afternoon and it’s gotten worse since we got here. We went back to our rooms and now they’re telling us to stay in the corridors of our hotel until the warning is over.”
“It’s a bit like real life The Wizard of Oz The moment is here. I hope it gets better soon.”
Wallaroos players were allowed to return to their rooms at 1pm (AEST), but the warning remains in place.
This is the second hazardous weather the Wallaroos have experienced in a week. A Test match against Canada in Sacramento at the weekend was postponed for 70 minutes by lightning as part of a severe thunderstorm.
The game eventually started, but there were no fans present after local police deemed the match too dangerous.
Canada won 24-0 in terrible conditions that would have led to most games being cancelled.
Iain Payten is senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
