Tornado that hit Douglas County rated an EF-4, stayed on ground for 31 miles

When Lanae LaBonte called her in-laws Tuesday evening to check on them before a tornado touched down in south Lawrence, her father-in-law, Mike LaBonte, said it was “no big deal, I’m just sitting here eating ice cream.”

About 10 minutes after convincing her in-laws to head to their basement closet, Lanae’s mother-in-law, Karen LaBonte, called her son, Brad, and Lanae and said she didn’t think there was anything left of the house.

″(Karen) said she looked out the closet and all she could see was blue sky,” Lanae LaBonte said.

The LaBonte family’s house took a direct hit about 6 p.m. Tuesday from the tornado that swept across the south side of Lawrence, destroying multiple houses in its path. The National Weather Service said Wednesday afternoon the tornado was rated an EF-4 and stayed on the ground for 31.82 miles.