Joe Wetten, frantically driving from Kansas City to his home on West 26th Street, was anxious to see whether Thursday’s tornado had hit his home.

The moment he came upon a roadblock of sightseers lined up on the western leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway, he said it made him “sick.”

“There were so many people here last night,” he said Friday outside his damaged house. “All the sightseers were lined up. It was ridiculous.”

The flock of rubberneckers Thursday night who went to south Lawrence to catch a glimpse of tornado damage also hurt law enforcement response.

“That group got ahead of police,” City Manager Mike Wildgen said. “I know that people who were called to duty were stuck 20 minutes trying to get to the scene. It was a hindrance.”

To discourage further sightseers, the Kansas National Guard set up checkpoints on four corners of the affected area during the day on Friday: on the southwest at 27th Street and Wakarusa Drive; on the northwest at Clinton Parkway and Wakarusa Drive; on the northeast at Clinton Parkway and Inverness Drive; and on the southeast at 27th and Inverness.

“They have a great set of first responders here,” said Maj. Gen. Greg Gardner, adjutant general. “It was probably tough to get past the 3,000 tourists. That was one of the reasons the National Guard was called out sometime in the middle of the night.”

Residents of the affected area had to sign in and receive a name tag to enter their homes. Even then, some in the heavily damaged units could enter only with a law enforcement or fire department escort.

Anyone in the area without a name tag was asked to leave. It took a few minutes, but Wetten said he didn’t mind it.

“We think it’s great because it keeps a lot of people out,” he said.

By Friday evening, the National Guard troops had left and the roads were open again in the area, though police still were restricting access to Aberdeen South Apartments, 4700 W. 27th St.

Meelad Hadje-Ghaffari and David Long, both 13, were among the people trying to catch a glimpse of the damage Friday morning. They rode their bikes from their homes about a mile away from Aberdeen South after having the day off from Southwest Junior High.

“We were just riding our bikes around here and decided to check it out,” Hadje-Ghaffari said.

Added Long: “They said it’s been a long time since we had a tornado. I didn’t think it would get this far.”