England’s World Cup squad was forced to take cover after a severe warning of a potentially deadly tornado hit Kansas City.
The Three Lions arrived in the city on Saturday morning and held their first training session at the Swope Soccer Village. But on the evening of their first night at the new base, everyone in the local area, including the entire England camp, received an emergency phone alert as multiple lightning strikes, loud thunder, torrential rain, and gale-force winds battered the city on the Kansas-Missouri border.
The notification read: “Critical. Imminent Threat Alert.
“National Weather Service: SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING in effect for this area until 9:00 PM CDT for DESTRUCTIVE 80 mph winds. Take shelter in a sturdy building, away from windows. Flying debris may be deadly to those caught without shelter. For your protection, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 1100 PM CDT for northeastern and east central Kansas…and west central Missouri.”
England followed the advice and stayed inside. The team is training at the Sporting KC headquarters, located seven miles northwest of their World Cup team hotel. The squad is staying at The Inn at Meadowbrook, an English-style cottage resort south of the city.
Just hours earlier, the team had arrived at their training base to clear blue skies and bright, hot sunshine. They trained in front of around 300 local spectators, with the only concern being whether captain Harry Kane and his teammates had applied enough sunscreen.
But by 8 pm, conditions had changed dramatically, with a raging storm that locals described as one of the worst in the past year. A siren could be heard in the city centre, warning anyone outside to seek shelter.
SunSport revealed in May that the England squad would be given tornado drills amid fears of twisters in an area known as “tornado alley.” A hotel staff member said: “If the siren goes off we advise guests to shelter in their bathroom away from windows.”
An FA source said: “While a twister is unlikely, and the chances of a direct hit even more remote, things have to be put in place. The security team have spoken to the hotel and know the drills, and this advice will be passed on to the players and team staff.”
The alert came four days after England’s friendly against Costa Rica was delayed by an hour due to a massive thunderstorm. The incident capped off a chaotic 24 hours, which also saw the team’s boots and training equipment stolen and later recovered, while their team chef was barred from boarding a train for carrying kitchen knives.
