England team meet young fans just two hours before tornado strikes

England team meet young fans just two hours before tornado strikes The team was ordered to remain indoors during a fierce storm on their first night at the team hotel in Missouri. Captain Harry Kane and the rest of the 26-strong squad were watching Scotland's 1-0 win over Haiti England stars met with young fans at their first training session in Kansas just hours before a Tornado hit. The team was ordered to remain indoors during a fierce storm on their first night at the World Cup team hotel in Missouri. Captain Harry Kane and the rest of the 26-strong squad were watching Scotland's 1-0 opening victory over Haiti and US basketball when the alert was issued for Kansas City. The US National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes touched down in the area just before 9pm on Saturday, leaving more than 68,000 homes without power. England had been training in glorious sunshine just two hours earlier at 6pm. Leah Enright, Blind Sports Coordinator, led a brief demo of Blind Soccer with local middle and high school students. Unified Team, comprising players with and without intellectual disabilities, also lined up to meet the Three Lions alongside Ryogoku Soccer Academy players, an international school founded to raise awareness for youth. Two hours later, a raging storm hit the area, which locals branded one of the worst in the last year. A siren could be heard in the centre of Kansas, warning anyone outside to get to shelter. The mobile phone alert for the 2.2 million people living in the Kansas City Metropolitan area came amid winds of up to 80 mph. 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.” Staff at the team hotel advised England's players on the storm protocol. "They watched the Scotland game and the NBA basketball finals," said a source. "They followed the advice and stayed indoors." Their hotel is in 'Tornado Alley,' and local forecasters, who appeared on TV coverage during the Scotland game, said one had touched down 34 miles south of the England camp. Power was lost and TV screens went blank during the match. It was restored after several minutes. But live TV coverage continued to offer emergency advice, showing the match on a tiny insert in the corner of the screen. Captain Harry Kane, 32, Jude Bellingham, 22, Jordan Pickford, 32, Jarell Quansah, 23, Declan Rice, 27, in his bare feet, and Eberechi Eze, 27, signed autographs and posed for selfies with schoolchildren invited to meet the team. Local dignitaries joined them in a VIP section as England were welcomed to Kansas for their first training session at their World Cup HQ. Fans were warned that they also face extreme heat of 33C (95F) for our opening game against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday. A 10,000-strong army is heading to Dallas from around the world, taking 'trains, planes and automobiles,' according to fan groups. England players have bought 1000 tickets for “family and friends” at every game. A total of 3,315 members of the England Supporters Travel Club bought tickets, including superfans Garford Beck, 64, from London, and Andy Milne, 63, of Northwich, Cheshire, the fan nicknamed 'That World Guy' after he was spotted carrying a replica World Cup in Qatar. Another 7,618 have bought tickets online identifying themselves as England fans through the FIFA platform. Thousands of ex-pats will boost the number of fans in the Dallas stadium, where capacity has been reduced from 80,000 to 70,649 for the tournament. One of the travelling ex-pat fans is Chris Thomas, 40, originally from Leeds who sells traditional British pies with a street food firm called 'Brit Boy', now living in Kansas City. He said: "We are driving which is going to take a good eight hours but we're very lucky to get tickets. "The stadium is about 45 minutes outside the city so we will be driving and using taxis and public transport when we get there. Otherwise the costs can be horrific." Exeter City fan George Smith, a finance worker who now lives in San Diego, California is travelling to the England group games with Three Lions supporters based in Spain, Scandinavia and Australia. "And obviously there will be thousands of ex-pat England fans from across the United States," he told the Mirror. "Many US states especially Florida, California, and New York have huge numbers of British ex-pats. "England will have a huge army of fans from the US, not to mention all the Premier League fans drawn to the national team." George, 42, is taking his son Charlie, 11, to the England games with him. He also plans to take his Mexican-born wife, Monica, to the famous Azteca stadium if England face her native country in the Round of 16. In total George has spent around $7,000 dollars (£5,178) on tickets for himself and his family. But the bill may rise to £12,000 depending on how far England progress. Pam Kramer, CEO of KC2026, the World Cup Organising Committee, said they had been "thrilled" to welcome England. She added: "The fact that Kansas City was selected as a base camp destination for England, Argentina, the Netherlands and Algeria speaks to the strength of our soccer culture and decades of investment in the game. "This summer is about more than matches, it's an opportunity to showcase a region that is welcoming, and ready to host the world." [Image text:] SA EINANY NSAS