Tornado terror for touring Aussie rugby stars
The Australian women’s rugby team has been forced to take shelter in their hotel after tornado activity in Kansas produced late-night alarms and caused panic among players.
The Wallaroos, who are in America as part of the Pacific Four Series, are in Kansas City before a clash with the US women’s team on Saturday morning (AEST).
But their preparations took a scary turn on Monday night (Tuesday AEST) when wild storm activity in the city escalated to a “Tornado watch warning”, following the confirmed landing of a twister in the nearby suburbs of Ottawa and Harrisonville.
Kansas City is part of the region in central America known as “Tornado Alley”, due to the destructive storm activity between April and June.
Wallaroos players were preparing for bed after a day of training when an alarm sounded and they were instructed by hotel staff to move into the inner section of the Sheraton Overland Park away from 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.
Wallaroos players huddled in the hallway as the storm front rolled through.
“We trained today in Kansas for the first time and it was quite strong winds and warm weather, but didn’t think anything of it,” Wallaroos winger Maya Stewart said.
“We got an afternoon storm come through, and it’s just got worse since we’ve been here. We got back to our rooms and now they’re telling us to stay in the hallways of our hotel until the warning is over.
“It feels a bit like a real life Wizard of Oz moment here. Hopefully it settles down soon.”
Wallaroos players were allowed back in their rooms at 1pm (AEST), but the warning remains in place.
It is the second dangerous weather the Wallaroos have been exposed to in a week. A Test match against Canada at the weekend in Sacramento was delayed by 70 minutes due to lightning as part of a torrential storm.
The game eventually got under way, but with no fans after local police deemed it too dangerous.
In horrendous conditions that would have resulted in most games being called off, Canada won 24-0.
Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.