A large tree near Ahearn Fieldhouse took down the stoplight at the intersection with College Heights Road. Staff photo by David Mayes

As Manhattan residents continued recovery from last week's hail storm, a fresh spate of weather came through the city Wednesday, as a tornado caused destruction around the city.

Near the largely student-populated west side of the Kansas State University campus, where the funnel took the roof off the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house, ripped trees from the ground by their roots and scattered residential debris throughout the area just after midnight, residents were dazed by the destruction.

Trapper Callender, an anthropology student at K-State, said the thought of a tornado hitting Manhattan had never crossed his mind.

''Then we heard the reports and I thought 'This one's actually going to hit,''' he said, stepping over a ventilation turbine laying in the middle of College Heights Road. ''I mean, this is real.''

Cheyenne Stelter, an elementary education student at K-State who was out with Callender, said she felt like she was walking in a dream.

''We heard it was safe, so we left to see what it was like afterward,'' she said. ''You just don't think it's going to happen.''

Alfredo Figueredo, an economics student from Paraguay, said his only experience with tornadoes was on the news. He said he hardly realized that the tornado had passed just feet from his house.

''It happened so fast, I didn't even know it,'' he said, looking at the remnants of an apartment balcony. ''I felt the air pressure change, and my friend looked up and said 'You feel that?' Then there was this loud noise for a while. I can't believe it. My dad just called from Paraguay to see if it's OK. It's already on TV there.''

Chris Babcock watched the storm roll into Manhattan on TV. Babcock, also an economics student who lives on College Heights, was house-sitting for his boss on Pierre Street and came to survey the damage.

''You just never think it's going to happen to you,'' he said.