On April 26, 1991, I was a 14 year old high school freshman. I was moving out of the child-like fear of storms and beginning to have more interest in what made these things happen. The year before on March 13, a massive F5 tornado and struck the city of Hesston, KS, causing a massive amount of damage to that small town. That same night we watched a tornado from the front yard of our farm, with me video taping a good portion of it. There were other storms that year, but few captured the imagination of a 13 year old like watching that tornado quietly sweep across the plains.
When April rolled around, we were in the midst of track season. I clearly remember that night being at a track meet in Clearwater, throwing the shot put and discus (and not very well), then waiting around for hours while the rest of the team competed. The PA announcer made several statements that night that if the sirens sounded, we were to run to the high school for shelter. I thought that was an odd statement, but was ready to heed it if needed. Turns out, the tornado touched down about two miles from the high school.
That night when we finally returned home from the track meet, we were met with videos and news of a massive tornado that had ripped through Haysville, Wichita, McConnell Air Force Base, and finally Andover. The video below was aired on KWCH about a week later and contains a compilation of different videos taken of the storm.
This wasn’t the only tornado to become well known that night. Another tornado that was part of the same storm touched down near the Kansas Turnpike, which lead to the world to think that hiding under an overpass was a good idea. It is not.
This wasn’t the only tornado to become well known that night. Another tornado that was part of the same storm touched down near the Kansas Turnpike, which lead to the world to think that hiding under an overpass was a good idea. It is not.
Here’s hoping the same thing doesn’t happen somewhere in the midwest today. It’s supposed to be a day ripe for tornadoes. Keep an eye out, people.
UPDATE: Looks like Mike Smith is talking about the same thing today.
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