Topeka residents described sudden terror as tornado sirens went off after midnight, with trees ripping through neighborhoods and damage to homes. City of Topeka and Shawnee County debris pickup services are underway.
After midnight, the house in Topeka didn’t just get louder—it changed.
Courtney Sterbenz. a Topeka resident who said she has lived in the community her entire life. described a storm that arrived with a shock she couldn’t compare to anything she’d seen before. She said the sirens on the WIBW app started going off a little after midnight. Minutes later, her 16-year-old came running in saying tornado sirens were going off.
“It was maybe 5-10 minutes after that, just this crazy pressure in the house, and this noise that sounded like that train, you know, that you hear people talking about. I’ve never experienced that,” Sterbenz said.
When the rain eased, the damage was already in plain sight.
Sterbenz said she ran up to the top level of the house to look out her 18-year-old daughter’s bedroom window and saw a tree right there—something she said “there’s not normally.” She described watching the situation worsen as the storm pressed on. “And then, it just kinda progressed. We came out once the rain let up, and saw this,” she said.
Across town, Marvin Rues said he didn’t know what was happening during the storm, but what he saw the next day told the story.
“But today, looking at this, that’s actually the neighbor’s tree ripped all the way off, and I bet the winds were, what? 90 miles per hour, I bet,” Rues said.
In the aftermath, neighbors turned toward the kind of help that doesn’t wait.
Topeka resident Hunter Balsmeier said residents stepped in for one another. “It just shows how we can come together. We can get along in times of trouble. Put our differences aside, make sure everybody is safe, has what they need,” he said.
Debris pickup services with city and county crews are underway. Services offered by the City of Topeka and Shawnee County are available here.
The storm’s path left residents shaken—and focused on what comes next: clearing debris, checking damage, and making sure everyone can recover.
Topeka severe weather tornado sirens storm damage fallen trees debris pickup Shawnee County City of Topeka