US airman injured by lightning strike to McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas
McConnell Air Force Base is home to around 3,000 active duty members, which includes the 931st Air Refueling Wing Air Force Reserve.
WICHITA, Ks. – A US airman was injured Wednesday after storms produced lightning that is believed to have struck McConnell Air Force Base outside of Wichita.
Radar showed a storm moving through the metro area after 3 p.m. with several cloud-to-ground lightning strikes southeast of the city.
Several strikes were reported around McConnell Air Force Base on Wednesday.
(FOX Weather)
A public affairs officer at the base said personnel have several ways of being warned about storms and alerts were sent before the day's inclement weather.
It is unclear what the airman was doing when lightning struck, but the base official said the airman was conscious and alert before being transported to a hospital for further evaluation.
The official said the base's notification system includes warning about lightning that is within a perimeter of five nautical miles and the alert encourages people to seek shelter.
It is not believed anyone else at the military facility was injured during the most recent storm.
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McConnell AFB is home to around 3,000 active duty members, which includes the 931st Air Refueling Wing Air Force Reserve.
The facility was spared from damage during rounds of severe storms that impacted the region during the past week.
However, areas less than 10 miles away weren't as lucky during Friday's tornado outbreak that produced an EF-3 twister in Andover, Kansas.
Base airmen recently volunteered with cleanup of the destruction left behind from the tornado.