It’s tornado season! Meaning tornados are going to be popping up all over America, especially in the Tornado Alley, where they happen most frequent. The states that are in the alley are Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Florida, Nebraska, Illinois, Colorado, Iowa, and Missouri – however the state we’re going to focus on this article is Kansas.
The Sunflower State known for its flat plains, fields of grass, and air capital of the country is also known for being the 2nd state with the most tornados – only behind Texas, with Texas having an average of 124 annually and Kansas at 87. With a record like that, you can be sure there have been many heavy hitters and we’re going to go down a list of the 5 worst tornadoes that have occurred in Kansas history.
1.Udall Tornado 1955
The Udall Tornado hit Kansas on May 25th 1955, where it was reported to have landed in Texas, and shortly after landing made it’s way through all of Oklahoma into Kansas where it would unfortunately hit Udall and flatten the city. The tragedy took the lives of 77 people and injured many more.
2. Topeka Tornado 1966
On June 8th, 1966, an F5 rated tornado landed and carved a 22-mile path through Topeka, Kansas. After the tornado had hit, it had caused over $200 million in damage which when converted to todays value is worth $1.8 billion, the tornado did not only cost a huge sum of money but also took the lives of 17 people and injured many more. After the tornado struck, the state capitol prompted improvements in not only better safety education but also lead to the Modern Doppler radar being implemented and advanced warning systems which provide faster and more precise alerts.
3. Greensburg 2007 tornado
On May 4th, 2007, an EF5 tornado hit and destroyed 95% of Greensburg. The tornado raided Greensburg at 9:45 p.m., having been reported to have 205 mph winds. When it hit the small town it was on the ground for 65 minutes, covering a distance of 28 miles. After it was all said and done – the tornado had taken the lives of 10 and destroyed over 1,400 homes and businesses. Many believed the tornado had buried the town and was lost, but from the rubble the city folk came together to form a stronger community and collaborate on rebuilding the city.
4. Haysville/Wichita/Andover 1991 tornado
On April 26th, 1991, a violent F5 tornado touched down south of clearwater. The tornado rapidly evolved into a multi-vortex storm and reeked havoc across northern Haysville and southeastern Wichita, during the storm the tornado caused $62 million in damages. The tornado destroyed a hospital and a school but narrowly missed a line of B-1B bombers by a thousand feet when it hit McConnell Airforce Base. During the peak of the tornado it made it’s way to southern Andover, where it leveled several large frame houses and destroyed 84% of the Golden Spur Mobile Home Park. After the tornado it was reported to have caused 17 deaths and leaving hundreds more injured, 13 of the deaths were from when it struck Golden Spur Mobile home park, the other 4 were from when it hit Wichita ending the 4 peoples lives when they attempted to reach shelter and were too late. Despite the losses about 200 people survived at the mobile home park by reaching the community storm shelter.
5. May 17, 1896 Kansas tornado
On May 17th, 1896, a deadly F5 tornado hit. First touching down close to Palmer, Kansas, it covered a distance of 100mph. In the path of the tornado were several counties before it crossed over into Nebraska. The counties hit by the tornado were Washington, Marshall, Nemaha, and Brown counties. The tornado was measured to be 2.5 miles in width as it was passing through the town of Reserve. The towns that were hit by the tornado were Seneca, and Reserve. Several other communities were tore through and had a total of 20 casualties in Kansas before moving on to Nebraska where it would take 4 more lives. The tornado also lead to the vanishing of numerous farms where the land was left bare.
The list of tornados still goes on but these were the 5 most deadly in Kansas history.
Sources:
https://www.ksn.com/weather/under-the-radar/under-the-radar-kansas-top-10-tornadoes-of-all-time/
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/tornadoes/tornado-alley
