I was only six weeks old and survived with my mother, father and grandmother ONLY because my grandmother had been through a tornado in Mississippi as a child, and it killed her mother. As a result, my grandmother had an underground storm shelter built. We were the only ones in our neighborhood to survive. Without that underground shelter we would have all surely perished.
That is astonishing! And terrifying. I'm so glad you survived!! People who have experienced the horror of a killer tornado understand that anything can happen, and to have a strong, underground shelter is the best protection you can have. What an incredible experience. Even though you were a tiny baby, that experience is embedded in your very cells.
My Mom told me that my Dad was watching the tornado from the porch and she was in the basement telling him to come down He didn't. I believe it passed a few blocks away from their house at the time.
I was in that tornado in 1966. I was 10 yrs. old. I was scared to death. We were in my Aunt and Uncle's house in the basement. My parents, sister, Aunt, Uncle and me. My whole body was shaking. I was never so scared in my life other then that night. The edge of the tornado was on the other side of the block to the east. My Aunt and Uncle had a radio on listening to what was going on in the city. When it was over the next day all of us got into my Aunt and Uncle's car and drove around the south side of the city where they basically lived. My parents and sister seen a wheat stock in a telephone post. We seen houses on their roofs. Places completely gone. To me it was like a bomb went off. It was unbelievable the insane damage created by a tornado. It is a moment in my life that I will never ever forget! It was a blessing from God that there wasn't that many people die in that moment of time. ❤
I’ve seen photos of wheat/grass/similar sticking out of a telephone pole after a tornado. I’ve been studying tornadoes for decades and i was curious about how fragile items would get rammed into trees/poles. What happens is, the wind bends the pole or tree just enough to create small cracks in which the wheat gets driven, then when the wind subsides, the pole straightens again, leaving the wheat sticking out as if the wind drove it straight into the tree or pole.
When the tornado happened my mother, sisters, and I hid in our basement. Our house escaped, but the Mound was easily seen from our house, and I remember hearing, on a transistor radio, someone shouting "It's coming over the mound!" My father was near downtown, at ninth and Fillmore. and he saw what he described as the sky being black with debris.
Bill Kurtis is one amazing man. I love watching shows with he is the narrator. Many crime TV shows and such. His voice is one you can recognize anywhere.
Bill Curtis is one of my favorite orators of all time, and I'm 61 so I've heard many, it's no mystery that his choice of words saved many, " for God's sake take cover". 🙏
@JhonnyCash-mo2wx The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who can fix this evil world. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28, KJV). Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Establish the Kingdom in Jerusalem and save the world from the tyranny of Democracy (Daniel 7:7, KJV)!
My mom and dad used to tell me stories about this tornado . I never knew it was that serious. I just realized something as I was typing this-- I really miss both of them :(
My goodness! I was born and raised in Topeka and this documentary by the man himself, Bill Kurtis, brought back many memories. Scared was just the tip of the emotional roller coaster. I was expecting my first son at that time and was visiting at my mom's house. She lived about six blocks from the path of the tornado. My two younger sisters and brother would sneak a look out the back door or go out on the front porch for a quick peek then go back to the basement where mom kept hollering for us to get back down there. We were all okay.
@@billolsen4360 Sounds Like Great Advice But Here In Kentucky We Stand On Our Front Porch During A Tornado Warning. Not Advisable. But True Nonetheless. And Yes I Am Guilty Of That Myself. I Want To See Were That Thing Is Headed.
I lived on a farm near the Iowa/Missouri state line. Not far from i-35. We found debris from Topeka in our pastures. That's at least 150 miles away. Postcards, someone found an entire birthday cake, intact, still decorated.
Hearing Bill say "for God's sake, take cover" reminds me of Gary England in Oklahoma City telling people over the air on May 3rd, 1999 "you must be underground to survive this" he had never said it before in over 20 years of on air tornado coverage, so people who were somewhat desensitized to tornadoes in Oklahoma, knew it was serious. Thank goodness for Bill saying what he did, he saved lives that day.
@@justinwallace390 I was living in OKC in 99. I was watching the constant coverage that afternoon/evening and had a good friend that lived right off of I35 and Council in a townhouse. Luckily, she wasn't home when it hit. Glad you made it out safe❤
Can’t believe this popped up on my screen. I was 4 years old. My mom had just remarried and we had just moved out of our apartment near Washburn University… my aunt who lived near the path of destruction took a picture of where our apartment HAD been. I’ll always remember the picture, including a mattress that had been flung out into debris. We were so blessed to have moved shortly before this 1966 tornado. I remember my grandmother telling the story of her and my grandfather (they lived out near Forbes Field) just stood outside and watched the tornado move across the city. They didn’t really see a funnel cloud per se - they described it as a low, huge black mass moving across town.
The narrator is actor Peter Stacker, who *might* be best known for Narrating Bud Light’s ‘Real Men of Genius’ commercial series ( ‘we salute YOU, Mr … ‘ )
Living in Missouri, I have witnessed the destruction of many tornadoes. I live in a small town of around 3000 people. Two summers ago we had two roll through our town within minutes of each other around 3am. An F2 and an F3. It was the first time this town ever seen one, let alone two. We had the bedroom window open and my husband heard the siren. He woke me up and what he said didn't register. I looked out the window and saw the lighting. Other than that, there was no noise at all. All I said was..."tornado" and we sprang into action. I knew we only had seconds to get some shoes on and take shelter. We made it to the kitchen and lost power. We were lucky. One twister sideswiped our backyard. We ended up being between the two tornadoes. One hit north and the second hit south of our house. After it was over we and all of our neighbors were outside with flash lights checking on everyone and surveying what damage we could see.
@@ne1124 , Yes, many books and papers were found in St.Joseph Missouri! I live in Topeka Kansas and the next day (Saturday morning) after a F-5 tornado that hit Andover Kansas on March 26, 1991, I found a cancelled check that was cut in half and in my front yard from Andover Kansas. I was mowing my front yard and was curious what the paper was and stopped my mower to see what the paper said. I did not want to chop paper all over my front yard. That tornado in Andover Kansas was over 75 miles southwest of Topeka the previous evening! I saved that cancelled check and still have it.
This storm took Mom's/grandma house just east of down town. They said she survived it in the small bathroom. Used to joke about how the jail stands where it was
'It was a moment when we realized, we really needed people.' We need to stop the hate. At any moment, you might need each other. And each other is all we have really, when it comes to it. Don't let politicians make you hate. We all want the same things, they just tell us we don't.
I was 7 years old at that time, with my Mom & Dad at Walgreens having dinner. We were leaving down town just before it hit, we had just passed the capital building heading west. Coming up to Stormont Vail Hospital I will never forget that sound.
@@mikepastry1162 she probably meant Woolworth’s. It was downtown and had a lunch counter in it that was open from lunch to dinner. I don’t think Woolworth’s is around anymore anywhere.
My family lived in the west country outside of Topeka west of Auburn Road. My father saw it starting and it was a white skinny funnel. He called to report it and the operator argued with him and after a minute or so we heard him yelling into the telephone( my father was a very soft spoken man) “ Lady, this thing is coming to my house and heading for town!!!! I’m getting out of here!” He piled all six of us children and mom into the car and I will NEVER forget my dad screeching out to the dirt road, gravel spraying everywhere, heavy rain and then hail pelting the car as he headed northeast to get away. All of us were just silent! As we peered out the back window the thing just turned and took an opposite direction but was getting bigger and changing to a dirty brown. Dad turned around and followed it, but when we got to the highway we could see all the power lines, trees and some barns just gone. A dead cow was laying in the road!!! A family by the name of Wolf had their farm hit and I recall they perished. I have NEVER forgotten the experience. I was nine years old. My dad took my four older brothers to help others with livestock and cleanup. Such a time.
As someone who has lived in Tornado Alley all of my life, this is a disturbingly fascinating glimpse into fairly recent history. What is shocking to me is the fact that new housing in Topeka did not have basements. In the suburbs of St. Louis, MO, my family spent many hours huddling in our basement during tornado warnings, and so far, I have yet to enter a home that didn’t have a basement! It seems so irresponsible for builders to blatantly ignore the very real danger from tornados in KS and not provide shelter for home owners. Very cool to see what launched Bill Curtis and know how crucial his emphatic warning was in saving so many lives!
Certain areas can’t have basements built because of the clay soil which makes it really expensive to do, nowadays homes have those safe shelters built within the home.
@@brizzle3903 Exactly. You may not have heard of the 2011 EF-5 tornado that destroyed Joplin, MO, Missouri tornado, killed 158 people and injured over 1,000. Most of the homes in that area didn’t have basements due to a high water table and dense limestone, and it ended up being the most costly tornado in US history.
@@oldcollegecoed from what I’ve heard a dome structure would be the most effective design against even the strongest tornadoes, if I lived out there I would go for that or a home built into a hill or something, those too are expensive but they pay for themselves in the long run
@@oldcollegecoed I was actually suppose to be dispatched to Joplin in 2011 I was in the AmeriCorps NCCC program at the time out in the Iowa regional campus and we would’ve gone there but they sent us to Minot, North Dakota instead to aid with the historic flooding that happened up there. We were sent to the greater Smithville, Mississippi area after that part of the country was blasted by a massive EF5 tornado that tore asphalt out of the ground, seeing that destruction in person was unreal! 2011 was a wild year for weather
Bill Kurtis is a man that was born for that career. He is impeccable as what he does and definitely saved lives! That was a burial mound. It should never have been disturbed. Whether it had anything to do with the destruction is a mute point. With that type of destruction, so many lives were saved with 16 perishing. Something like that is never forgotten and proves first hand the strength of these disasters. Excellent documentary! ❤
I remember a minor (F1) twister in San Antonio in '74. Screaming like jet plane, shook the house and looking out the window, all you could see was like a gray fog. Scared hell outta me, a "weak" tornado. I cannot imagine an F4 or F5.
We were living at 5th and Polk, and I was to turn 13 on the 24th when that hit. While everyone else went down to the basement and hid under a mattress, my dad and I went to the front door and watched the tornado tear by us just a few blocks away and hit the capital. I remember how dark it had become, the debris flying around, and the eerie rumbling sound. Our neighborhood wasn't touched, but the devastation around us was unreal.
I live in Woodridge Illinois. On June 20th, 2021, an F3 came roaring through 2 blocks away. I went outside and watched it tear through our neighborhood.
I was there at my grandparents on Randolph Avenue. It was coming toward us but then turn to the east and hit Washburn University. I am also originally from Topeka
I was 15 living in Oakland, was working downtown ks.ave that day and barely got home to cover. Truly the devastation was indescribable. I remember rats coming up out of the sewers as big as dogs
Survived this while visiting my Grandma in her basement at 12th and Quincy. For an 8-year-old, this was a terrifying but interesting phenomenon, like the Finger of God. Her house was directly in the damage path. What most people do not understand is this Tornado lifted and returned to the ground several times that afternoon. It landed directly on top of us. Weird effects: All of her furniture was in the living room piled one on top of the other, except for appliances. The noise was deafening.
My folks and 1 year old brother (I wasn't thought of yet), lived just NE of the Washburn campus. The house was a direct hit, most likely from a sub vortice, as other houses were still standing somewhat. They found a house to rent while they rebuilt at the same address. My mom still lives there today. One family story/legend is that she washed diapers that day, as disposables were new and hideously expensive. She didn't hang them up outside as it looked like it could rain to her, so she draped them over a line in the basement. As the tornado passed over, these diapers drifted up and were suspended several feet above the line. Then, when the pressure equalized, they floated back down to the ground. That scared the bejeezus out of her. There's also a family heirloom, a barometer with the bellows blown out....recording the exact pressure when it passed by.
@Deborah Huckstep, I was down there at WIBW when they interviewed your mother (Kay Conn) on the 50 year anniversary. I was on the show as well. I sent Kay a video (DVD)of this F-5 tornado (about a minute long) after I saw her at WIBW. Has some video of damage as well we took the next morning after the tornado.
We live there too. My wife is obsessed with Kansas history, even minored in it at Washburn University. She would lose her mind if she could see that barometer! She's talked for years about trying to start a museum of important events that happened here and the immediate area. Of interviewing people and writing a book about them. She is a proud Kansas woman!
I'm glad that your family made it out of that horrific event alive! The diapers story was spooky, but intriguing. You mentioned the Barometer, with the bellows blown out, but that it had recorded the pressure beforehand. Might I ask:What was the Barometric Pressure at the time of the Barometer's point of failure? Just curious. Have a great day, and stay safe!!!
@@joshuacook4116 You and your Wife are what I call True Kansas Patriots! Please take that name as a High Honor, Sir, because I mean every word of it! May you and your Wife have a blessed life! ✝️✝️✝️🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
@@ronaldshank7589, I was at WIBW when they were doing interviews to be on WIBW’S 50 year anniversary of this F-5 tornado. WIBW put this show on TH-cam called: Topeka’s Tragedy Remembering The 66 Tornado. I was the first to be interviewed when they asked if anyone had video of this tornado or video of damage of this tornado. I had 8 mm film (color) of both the tornado ( and damage after the tornado) and was quickly the first to be interviewed. Some of our family color video was put on the show. Before I was interviewed, I just happened to be sitting at the table right next to Kay Conn. (The one who had the barometer) I saw that barometer and Ralf Hipp was doing a brief interview with her. Kay told her story what she went through. After she was finished all I could say was wow! Everyone I saw that day was put on the show. What I could not understand is why WIBW did not put her barometer story on the 50 year anniversary show. I thought that was so interesting but they did not put it on the show. Especially since she brought the Barometer with her down to WIBW. This video was done by the History Channel in 2000 when it was still the most damaging tornado of all time. (Inflation adjusted dollars) In 2011, the Joplin tornado took over the Topeka tornado as the most damaging tornado of all time.
Yep, the gawking. A tornado hit my county one year, causing significant damage and we even had people from neighboring states drive over. The gawkers would drive through downed power lines, caused traffic jams making it difficult for emergency workers, the Red Cross to get to residents, lines of cars driving through neighborhoods to see the destruction. I’m sure they don’t realize the problems they cause and that it’s also very offensive to the residents. I didn’t understand why TV and radio stations weren’t contacted and asked to broadcast to please stay out of the area for at least the first few days so residents could be helped.
I was practically a livelong resident of Topeka, my apartment was just east of 29th & Gage, I was told that our apartment building was just completed in 1964, it survived with virtually no damage while the ones across the street were destroyed. You'd be surprised how many people still don't have basements. My ex and I used to go up to Burnett's mound to watch the storms roll in.
The only thing I have to disagree with Mr Kurtis here is that the tornado wasn't "half a block wide", it was half a MILE wide. I just double checked the stats. It also didn't bounce around. It was on the ground for 22 miles.
I was in the fourth grade when this tornado hit I was on the Air Force Base and Topeka I can remember my dad coming home from the side of the base where are the planes he was a Pilot and they him and eventually guys had seen the tornado on their radar and he hopped in the salon mustang and board across the base to the housing area make sure that all of us were in the basement I can remember looking out the glass window at it we were very lucky he came up to the fence of the runway but never came on the pace we were very very lucky but I can remember seeing it feeling it smelling it and afterwords my brother had been at college doing some type of thing for high school but he was OK I also remember hearing that part of that telescope from the college and books or in other states they were blown that far away I still get emotional about it it’s one of those things I’ll never forget I just bless all the people that were there on that day and I’m so glad my dad came home because we were standing outside playing catch right now bikes how much of kids in the neighborhood
My grandpa was 17 at the time and had a triumph bonnevile, he rode around on his motorcycle just half an hour after the tornado passed, he said he drove around the city and found whiskey bottles sunk into ditches around the city that were still intact. He pulled them out and took them home with him. He also saw plastic straws that where stuck in trees likes knives. He was lucky enough to be on the north side of the river and lived through it, he said one side of the sky was bright blue and the other side was just completely black, sounds cool to me but I can’t imagine what it was like to experience it
I remember this like it was yesterday. I got picked up in my car and flew a couple blocks!! Lucky I survived, I still own the car today as reminder and display of the power!!
My mother was there! I am so glad that the finally did a real documentary like so many other storms after all it was the costliest natural disaster in American history in 1966 dollars. And you have footage I haven't ever seen!
I witnessed my first tornado 🌪️ in 2005, when I moved onto Fort Riley, KS while my husband was deployed to Iraq. As a coastal South Carolina girl, I've seen my share 0f hurricanes, namely Hugo, but always wanted to SEE a twister. They are a *force!*
Hearing them talk about what their radar couldn't do just makes me appreciate the current ability we have. When the outbreak hit Missouri a few weeks ago, the weather people not only could track storm development on doppler radar, they could track the actual on the ground storms by their debris balls in the air!
It was because of the outbreak of 1974 that we have the marvelous technology we have today. That and every tornado before and since that left a record saying how forecasters couldn’t verify on radar what was happening until it happened. Doppler has definitely changed how forecasters report the reality of these storms and how many of us relate to what they tell us
I was 4 years old when the tornado struck. We lived in the Oakland neighborhood, the twister passed just a block and a half away from our house. Mostly I remember the noise, and the calmness of my parents, especially that of my mother. Our house, which my father still resides, sustained minor damage. We were without power so went to stay at my grandparents place which was not in line with, or near the damage path. I remember the trip over there, seeing the destruction, and asking my dad why there were soldiers about. It took years for all the physical scars of destruction to be repaired. The last of which was the section of the state house dome that was replaced. The dome of the Kansas capital building is made of copper. After many years the copper cladding had turned green with age, but the repaired section was natural copper. It wasn't until a major overhaul of the capital about 10 or more years ago that the dome was cleaned up to its all natural copper sheen. The house I bought and reside in is on the very west side of the mound. It was built in 1967, the year after the tornado. Surely if it had been built in '65 or '66 it, and the entire neighborhood would have been destroyed. The "Topeka Tornado" often times seems to be overlooked. This may be because there is so little video of the event. This is a very good documentary. I used to be an avid History Channel viewer but missed this one. Thank you for uploading it.
the main twister that would form me was the Exnia twister if the early 70s,I did not live there but recall the storms that night and it developed a lifeline fascination for twisters.Im 57.
When this happened I was a year and a half old. My family lived in Colorado. My Parents took me to Illinois for my step brothers High School Graduation and to meet his baby brother for the first time. I don't recall any of it but my Parents said on the way home we were playing tag with this tornado. We went thru Topeka after it hit. Initially, my Dad planed on staying over night in Topeka, but that of course didn't work out.
I was eleven that day and was annoyed because weather announcements kept breaking in to my favorite TV show, "Lost in Space". Then the sirens went off. My mom and my sisters and I hid in the basement under a bed. I did hear Bill Kurtis and his "For God's sake, take cover!" My dad was at a church downtown, much nearer to the path of the tornado. He was at a church meeting, in the basement, and the guys didn't know there was a storm until they went upstairs to look through the east tower door of the church. Dad described what he saw as "the sky was black with debris".
Denise, we have to be the same age. While I recall news coverage of this event from the safety of my hometown in Lawrence, KS - half an hour drive away from Topeka, only today (6-24-24) am I viewing this documentary for the first time. I had NO idea the devastation was as widespread as depicted in this report. I knew it was bad - but holy cow! 22 miles of destruction through the city and heavy damage to the Washburn campus? I never realized it until now.
Wow, I just drove down the 75 from Omaha to Houston a couple of days ago, and looked right near Gage Road and saw the mound and water tower. I had just watched this video last week.
I was 6 (almost 7) and living near Salina, KS about 2 hrs away from Topeka. A small tornado had done some damage at our place about a year before, but I couldn't believe my eyes when we drove to Topeka about a week after the event and saw the damage firsthand! It gave me a healthy respect for tornadoes which continues to this day!!
Tornadoes are nothing to take lightly. I went through 2 F2 tornadoes as a kid in Michigan in the 60s ( one in 1967, the other in 1969). Many homes lost roofs (ours included), garages, sheds, blown out windows, and lots of tree damage. School had just let out for the summer both times, and both times my parents were working, so I went through them alone but had friends shelter with me in my basement, under the stairwell. Our damage was comparatively nothing compared to the Topeka monster. I have the utmost respect for tornadoes and anything else that Nature can dish out. Nature is in control. (Jan Griffiths).
Weather news anchors are the real unsung heros of the community that dont get enough credit. Often times they are the ONLY forms of defense against natural disasters like tornados. I once heard a Chicago weather man say straight up there WILL be tornados in this area tomorrow so I made my trip earlier to get ahead of the storm. Sure enough a massive wedge tornado went through the highway that had stuck on traffic that I would of been on if I had not left 30 minutes early and yes there was many deaths involved in that tornado. It was one of the worst tornado disasters in the history of that state it was so powerful it carried a 30,000 pound fertilizer tank almost a mile.
My family woke up to a tornado siren at 2:45am. I immediately turned on the tv and there was our weatherman, David Hartmann reporting from the studio, telling us everything we needed to know.
I've lived in Topeka for 16 years; my husband’s & my house is just 2 blocks west of 29th & Gage, 1/2 mile from the tornado’s path & about 1 mile north of Burnett's Mound.
I'm a New Yorker and I've always found tornado alley and tornadoes in general strangely beautiful, but I don't have the nerve to live there for fear of being obliterated by one.
I lived through the tornadoes that went through Mayfield KY, 12/10 /2021 almost 80 people were killed and injured 100s most of our town is gone! Has to be the worst thing that I have ever seen, over two weeks later and they finally accounted for all the missing people!!!
Perhaps it was but that was not the first time Mayfield was hit by a tornado in December Once before Christmas another one hit in the year 2000. You very rarely hear about that one at all.
I first watched this on The History Channel years ago and have been waiting to see this again. Thanks for posting! There is also a great book about the Topeka Tornado called "And Hell Followed With It" that I highly recommend. Once I started reading it I couldn't stop.
Videos like these are so important. People DO forget. A few years back in Illinois a town got hit and harmed a lot of people. It’s situated in a valley and residents believed that it would protect them. People become complacent. We need to keep this knowledge alive.
@@kbf9644 oh I remember that one I was in Rockdale just before they toned out the coal city tornado from the same storm I remember sitting on the apron of the firehouse and watching the corn stalks and mail from Washington fall on the street in front of us
@@patrickharvey158 I live close to the Rochelle / Kirkland tornado. Some things you never forget, even if you’re just an outside witness. That Plainfield twister though…. That is one of the nastiest ones of seen. Came out of nowhere and just decimated everything in its path. That’s the one up here that scares me.
My uncle lived just off Topeka Blvd. His house and the one next door received only some moderate damage, rest of the block and to the west was leveled. Uncle Bob dodged a big bullet that day.
Today june 8th 2022 is the 56th anniversary of the topeka kansas 1966 tornado. Usually the 50th year anniversary of a disaster is the start when survivors of a disaster seem to dwindle due to passage of time. The 100th anniversary of a disaster is when it's rare when a survivor of a disaster is still alive.
@Anarchist Atheist, I am a survivor of this F-5 tornado on Wednesday June 8th, 1966 tornado. I was 6 years old. I was on the 1 year and 50 year specials of this F-5 tornado on WIBW in Topeka, Kansas. I have color video (1 minute video of this F-5 tornado) on Burnett’s Mound and also have over 10 minutes color video (8 mm film) from our movie camera that night.
Tornadoes do very strange things. I live in an area known for its tornadoes. Once a tornado hit this house and killed a woman in the bed. A bottle of aspirin on a night stand by the bed was picked up and the aspirin in it was pulverized and set back down on the night stand
Wow! Just like our town here in Minnesota. We had a bluff where Chief Hole in the Day was buried and it was said not to disturb his grave as he will protect the town. They built US highway 10 and had to move his grave to another spot and that was back in 1971 and the following year we suffered the worst flooding ever!
Wow crazy to hear that someone was literally sand blasted by a tornado, and survived, but had tiny particles in his skin that would not come out until the part of the skin they were embedded in was shedded.
That happens quite frequently with tornado injuries. Those pieces get driven deep into the skin, and they have to get pushed out (rejected) over time. That can take years. (Jan Griffiths).
A long time ago, a wasp stung me on the soft underside of my upper arm, near my armpit. Years later, I was working as a beach server and I started noticing this weird, tiny dark mark on my arm which slowly started to look like a splinter almost “woven” into my skin like a single needle stitch. Long story short, I finally got it out and after long, long moments of confusion, I realized it was the wasp’s stinger from years prior. I still have a very faint indentation of a scar and it still amazes me how long it took to work its way out of my skin.
I'm amazed at the amount of people that were there and remember this day or were told stories growing up. Hands down the most first hand accounts in a comment section I have ever seen. Incredible. Sending you all good vibes.
My late great uncle went to homestead Florida after Andrew. He was selected by the Hillsborough sheriffs department along with his dog scout for search and rescue/recovery. He showed me pictures he took of the devastation. One had a drinking straw driven into a concrete light pole. The one that stands out most was an I beam 18 inches wide from homestead AFB, twisted up like a silly straw. Spiraled and curled up. These were attributes of severe tornadoes spun off by Andrew. God bless and keep you all who deal with these killers yearly.
It's sad that the first thought of some people immediately following this tragedy is not, "how can I help others?", rather "how much can I steal and loot?" It was true then and it's true today!
And the stupid idiots that think poesessions are important are the one's that end up in Hell because their poesessions are their God and not our Eternal Father in Heaven. People's identities are going to put them in such a bad place after they pass on from this lifetime. I just wished that they knew better and cared more about the most important things life knowing the difference between right and wrong and that Heavenly Father is the most important thing in life not what we see in our eyes.
Look, if I found a strangers possession after a tornado…..I would try to hold on to it so I could give it to the police or try to return it in a few days when things settle down. I would not go out of my way to steal thing right after a disaster!! Help the trapped and injured, and then go try to get stuff so they could be retuned to their rightful owners. Things like photographs, documents, ID’s, guns, nice tools…..will be gathered and then given to the police or the owners. I would take things like towels and first aid materials to help the injured and scared. That’s it. Maybe food and water to help those immediately after. I told my local Walmart that if a tornado hit, I would probably “steal” towels, bandages, shovels, flashlights, batteries, ext to help those trapped or injured until full help arrives (takes a few hours sometimes). Plus first responders could use the spray paint for search and rescue (see what they did after Katrina). I would NOT take electronics, money, jewelry, or silly things (maybe a few small cheap toys and books for traumatized kids). After the looking at me, the manager acknowledged this. Especially if the Walmart and surrounding area was hit badly. It’s a small town. Heaven forbid if the hospital gets hit! I believe in Karma. She can be a real Bitch. After the Tsunami in Japan. People went to look for possessions (after search and rescue was done) to return to survivors, they organized them into baskets (with notes where they were found) and gave them to police. Even money was shorted and given to police. After seeing that, I could see how my Grandpa developed a small bit of respect for the Japanese after WW2. He saw Hell.
I was stationed in Topeka at Forbes AFB in 69 and driving back to base one night the sirens went off and I was amazed at how empty and errie the streets suddenly became. No cars no people! I pulled off an went into Denny’s for some cover. Topekan’s certainly took tornado warnings seriously at that time.
I was stationed at Forbes in 1969 also, and I remember driving up to Burnett's Mound and looking out west and seeing the swath of destroyed trees and looking toward the East and seeing the damage to the buildings, the Capitol Building not yet repaired from that twister!
This man who I admire so much in my life watching him on TV, got his start here with his wife and young baby going through one hell of a storm. Blessings to everyone!.
My dad used to hang in the boulevard when he was in high school hee the same age as you, born in 1960. He owned a bar out at lake wabaunsee back in his day
I was nine years old living in Lawrence KS when this tornado struck Topeka. Over the next couple days my dad and I drove down there and saw the destruction. When I see this video here reminds me of that time I had with my dad.
@@lorenkargard8303 yes Lawrence had attacks from the south and from Missouri. The people who attacked Lawrence were of quantrill's Raiders and other Confederates. We were a free state and were abolitionists helping with the Underground Railroad. These are some of the reasons why Lawrence was attacked. There's actually a lot of history on it that you could look up and find out more if you're interested
I was three years old and living in wichita. I can remember being outside playing. My mom was frying chicken and she came out to take clothes off the clothesline. The sky got so dark and sirens were going off. All.the neighbors were out yelling a tornado was coming. People were running everywhere. Next thing I remember is being in someones cellar with a bunch of people. There was one chair and I remember water dripping from the ceiling. That's all I remember.
Maybe they should have respected Burnett's Mound! Thankful for modern technology that enables people to predict tornados, one of nature's most terrifying forces
BORN AND RAISED IN TOPEKA ANY PROUD OF IT. NOW DAYS, IT WOULD BE EF5. LIVED ON 7 HUNDRED BLOCK ON LANE. I REMEMBER FEW DAYS BEFORE THE TORNADO THE CITY HAD SOME MAJOR STORMS WHICH THEY SOUND THE ALARM. ITS AMAZING WHAT TORNADOES CAN DO.
I’ll NEVER forget that sound. It sounded like ten freight trains rushing all towards you. I was terrified. I still dream about it. My buddy Dock Higgs died that day. RIP Dock.
My state Kentucky just had a devastating destructive tornado last week December 10th-11th 2021. The very worst we’ve ever had and this tornado was on the ground for over 220 miles and went through 4 states with hitting Kentucky the hardest
I have watched so many interviews and read so many articles about this. What Kentucky went through was so absolutely horrific. I truly feel for so many people that not only lost everything but lost love ones and friends. Those scars run real deep.
@@fatbottombiker3038 yes it is truly devastating. I am very grateful for it dissipating before hitting us as hard but what a lot of families went through is very tragic 🙏🏻
36:30 We noticed the same odor in Parkersburg after the EF5 in 2008. It was in my car for months afterward. No amount of cleaning could get rid of the smell. It's indescribable.
If you’d have lived in Kansas you’d know tornadoes are a yearly occurrence. Sat on the porch, behind my dad, as a tornado came within blocks of our house in Lyons while the rest of the family took refuge in an semi underground house across the street. We’d been getting ready for catholic confirmation for my older sister.
I'll never understand why construction of homes is allowed with no kind of tornado shelter in tornado alley. It seems so very irresponsible and heart less.
@@elliebellie7816 , You are right! 1 in 1000 tornadoes is a F-5 tornado. Even then, the chances a F-5 tornado hitting your house and hitting the city you live in is basically zero.
I was a child. We ran to the ladies house basement a few houses down. Dad/ mom was at work. It changed life.After the roar and shaking quit. As we walked out and cross the street and looked behind the house facing ours. Whole blocks were gone.Going to school and few kids there. Never knowing where your classmates or friends went. The quiet and the sullen faces. No one really looking at each other. I will never forget it.
I'll bet Bill Kurtis probably spent some time with Gary England. If you're from Oklahoma and know anything about doppler radar, you know who Gary England is. That aside, I love Bill Kurtis and the old Cold Case Files.
I was in my car in St. Louis, MO, when an f2 touchdown just blocks from my workplace. I was on the Interstate, in rush hour traffic was going to try to outrun it but was in standstill traffic. I never saw it coming because it was rain wrapped. I suddenly see a horizontal wall of cloud covered debris appear directly in front of me and proceeded to roll right over me. It was only F1 when it passed directly over me and I was inside the funnel and experienced all four direction of winds of the wall of the funnel- most terrifying experience I've ever had! It was moving our cars all over the place like they were nothing, it wasn't as loud as a freight train (almost) it was more like a jet plane & a very loud growling noise- very scary! Just as it passed over the interstate, it turned into an f2 tornado & it started flipping 18-wheeler trailers around like pick up sticks had it been an f2 when it passed over me, or others,,, cars could have been flipped or thrown and a lot more injuries or deaths could have occurred- I thanked God for that. Luckily it only hit a warehouse area and no one was injured. I can't imagine a larger tornado- my heart truly goes out to those that survive such a disaster. F1 scared the bejesus out of me! (* This was in 1998 so they had all the equipment to measure everything, Doppler radar etc. I never heard the sirens, it had just formed and touched down just a few blocks from where I was)
The siren that was shown in the yellow one is either a thunderbolt 1000 or a 1,000t and that is my favorite siren that is a civil defense siren from World War II
I was only six weeks old and survived with my mother, father and grandmother ONLY because my grandmother had been through a tornado in Mississippi as a child, and it killed her mother. As a result, my grandmother had an underground storm shelter built. We were the only ones in our neighborhood to survive. Without that underground shelter we would have all surely perished.
That is astonishing! And terrifying. I'm so glad you survived!! People who have experienced the horror of a killer tornado understand that anything can happen, and to have a strong, underground shelter is the best protection you can have. What an incredible experience. Even though you were a tiny baby, that experience is embedded in your very cells.
God Bless your Grandma 🙏
That is crazy. I'm glad you were too young to remember and I'm sure your grandmother was happy she could save all of you!
Pine city, more, hinkley, nm mn..pc
HOW MANY PPL DIED YOU SAID YOU'LL WERE THE ONLY SURVIVALS
Bill curtis. What a legendary voice and man
He said, "No other city has suffered such destruction." See Natchez, MS in 1840.
Joplin Missouri
@@baneverything5580 Jarrell, Texas.
Bill Curtis is a national treasure.
My mom and dad lost their house in this storm. My dad always called it “The Terrible Sound That Came Over The Mound”
My Mom told me that my Dad was watching the tornado from the porch and she was in the basement telling him to come down He didn't.
I believe it passed a few blocks away from their house at the time.
I was in that tornado in 1966. I was 10 yrs. old. I was scared to death. We were in my Aunt and Uncle's house in the basement. My parents, sister, Aunt, Uncle and me. My whole body was shaking. I was never so scared in my life other then that night. The edge of the tornado was on the other side of the block to the east. My Aunt and Uncle had a radio on listening to what was going on in the city.
When it was over the next day all of us got into my Aunt and Uncle's car and drove around the south side of the city where they basically lived.
My parents and sister seen a wheat stock in a telephone post. We seen houses on their roofs. Places completely gone. To me it was like a bomb went off.
It was unbelievable the insane damage created by a tornado. It is a moment in my life that I will never ever forget!
It was a blessing from God that there wasn't that many people die in that moment of time. ❤
I’ve seen photos of wheat/grass/similar sticking out of a telephone pole after a tornado. I’ve been studying tornadoes for decades and i was curious about how fragile items would get rammed into trees/poles. What happens is, the wind bends the pole or tree just enough to create small cracks in which the wheat gets driven, then when the wind subsides, the pole straightens again, leaving the wheat sticking out as if the wind drove it straight into the tree or pole.
You SAW, not seen.
He sounds like Ronald Reagan
When the tornado happened my mother, sisters, and I hid in our basement. Our house escaped, but the Mound was easily seen from our house, and I remember hearing, on a transistor radio, someone shouting "It's coming over the mound!" My father was near downtown, at ninth and Fillmore. and he saw what he described as the sky being black with debris.
Bill Kurtis is one amazing man. I love watching shows with he is the narrator. Many crime TV shows and such.
His voice is one you can recognize anywhere.
I was a tweener on a farm 15 miles south of Topeka; we stood in the yard and watched a wall of black tornado move across the city from that far away
Bill Curtis is one of my favorite orators of all time, and I'm 61 so I've heard many, it's no mystery that his choice of words saved many, " for God's sake take cover". 🙏
I love to listen to Bill Curtis, he’s one of two best orators that I’ve listened to, the other one is Paul Harvey!!❤
Wrong fella buddy
Worse than Moore, Oklahoma?
@JhonnyCash-mo2wx The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who can fix this evil world. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28, KJV). Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Establish the Kingdom in Jerusalem and save the world from the tyranny of Democracy (Daniel 7:7, KJV)!
@@davidlafleche1142out of context, again
wow! even when he was in his 20's Bill Kurtis's voice was just as unique and soothing as it is in his older years.
Right! A solid man never changes lol.
I agree!
Bill Kurtis is a Legend the likes of which we rarely see anymore. He is a Treasure of the State of Kansas.
Do lots of people in Kansas talk the way Kurtis does? His voice always added an ominous tone to those true crime stories he used to narrate.
@@billolsen4360 nope. Bill Kurtis has a spectacular broadcaster’s voice
He really had the gift of imparting gravity to whatever he spoke of...
He makes boring shows interesting
They should have been giving a award for bill Kurtis for saving so many people who were killed or hurt by a tornado of June 8, 1966.
My mom and dad used to tell me stories about this tornado . I never knew it was that serious. I just realized something as I was typing this-- I really miss both of them :(
You will see them again...their is no death...💕
Awe, I understand that. I miss my parents too!
Well at least we still got Bill's Kurtis voice to sooth us to sleep. I miss my old life too
❤️
Me too...lost my mom 15 years ago and my dad, 3 years ago.
So sorry!!!
We have a photograph of this tornado going across my great grandparents farm. It was an ominous black wall. Elders remember it like it was yesterday.
Post it!! Like on a video on TH-cam!!
No you don’t.
My goodness! I was born and raised in Topeka and this documentary by the man himself, Bill Kurtis, brought back many memories. Scared was just the tip of the emotional roller coaster. I was expecting my first son at that time and was visiting at my mom's house. She lived about six blocks from the path of the tornado. My two younger sisters and brother would sneak a look out the back door or go out on the front porch for a quick peek then go back to the basement where mom kept hollering for us to get back down there. We were all okay.
Today, too many adult people creep out of their shelters to go upstairs film the darn things using their phones. Stay in the shelter!
@@billolsen4360 Sounds Like Great Advice But Here In Kentucky We Stand On Our Front Porch During A Tornado Warning. Not Advisable. But True Nonetheless. And Yes I Am Guilty Of That Myself. I Want To See Were That Thing Is Headed.
@@ronderulijkummar7453 we're highly guilty of that in Illinois as well lol.
@@donavonseibert507 And Ohio.
At least you have a safe place to go to
We went through the Palm Sunday tornadoes in 1965. It was horrible and some scars can still be sent and it’s nothing you ever forget.
😑 ok ok no need to flex
I lived on a farm near the Iowa/Missouri state line. Not far from i-35. We found debris from Topeka in our pastures. That's at least 150 miles away. Postcards, someone found an entire birthday cake, intact, still decorated.
Candles still burning?
@@richardcranium3417 Looool
No you didn’t.
@@HiImSeanIPlayBass lol.
Not true 🤔
And Bill Kurtis, too.
One of the greatest voices. Glad he stayed in the public's ear after this.
i DISCOVERED bILL kURTIS IN THE EIGHTIES, I THINK IT WAS AMERICAN JUSTICE. I FOUND HIS VOICE HYPNOTIC AND STILL DO.
Agreed!
Absolutely right. Mr. Kurtis is very gifted. I love to watch American Justice as well as other shows he has done, to this very day.
I just subscribe to your TH-cam channel ok 👌. Dude lol 😂
You can hear him Weekly on "Wait, Wait: Don't tell me."
Hearing Bill say "for God's sake, take cover" reminds me of Gary England in Oklahoma City telling people over the air on May 3rd, 1999 "you must be underground to survive this" he had never said it before in over 20 years of on air tornado coverage, so people who were somewhat desensitized to tornadoes in Oklahoma, knew it was serious. Thank goodness for Bill saying what he did, he saved lives that day.
I was there May 3rd. 12th Street in Moore. I was 17 years old working at Taco Bueno. What a small world.
@@justinwallace390 I was living in OKC in 99. I was watching the constant coverage that afternoon/evening and had a good friend that lived right off of I35 and Council in a townhouse. Luckily, she wasn't home when it hit. Glad you made it out safe❤
On the May 20th 2013 tornado, I think I remember him saying at one time "My God, get below ground"
In the 70's there was a weatherman who would use the words "sheer glaze". If he said that, you knew the ice on the roads was really bad. 😁
Oklahoman love our weathermen. They save lives every year.
Can’t believe this popped up on my screen. I was 4 years old. My mom had just remarried and we had just moved out of our apartment near Washburn University… my aunt who lived near the path of destruction took a picture of where our apartment HAD been. I’ll always remember the picture, including a mattress that had been flung out into debris. We were so blessed to have moved shortly before this 1966 tornado. I remember my grandmother telling the story of her and my grandfather (they lived out near Forbes Field) just stood outside and watched the tornado move across the city. They didn’t really see a funnel cloud per se - they described it as a low, huge black mass moving across town.
I’ve never heard of this one before. Bill Kurtis narrating was a bonus
I don’t think that’s Bill Kurtis narrating.
Bill Kurtis is in this doc as a Newsman early in his career, but that’s not Kurtis narrating
@@TheLaurkenGroup yes that’s what I thought.
The narrator is actor Peter Stacker, who *might* be best known for Narrating Bud Light’s ‘Real Men of Genius’ commercial series ( ‘we salute YOU, Mr … ‘ )
@@rocknative70 thank you!
Bill Curtis said: "It's the randomness of nature." Nature is more powerful than we are.
Living in Missouri, I have witnessed the destruction of many tornadoes. I live in a small town of around 3000 people. Two summers ago we had two roll through our town within minutes of each other around 3am. An F2 and an F3. It was the first time this town ever seen one, let alone two. We had the bedroom window open and my husband heard the siren. He woke me up and what he said didn't register. I looked out the window and saw the lighting. Other than that, there was no noise at all. All I said was..."tornado" and we sprang into action. I knew we only had seconds to get some shoes on and take shelter. We made it to the kitchen and lost power. We were lucky. One twister sideswiped our backyard. We ended up being between the two tornadoes. One hit north and the second hit south of our house. After it was over we and all of our neighbors were outside with flash lights checking on everyone and surveying what damage we could see.
School papers and books from Washburn University were found over 65 miles away. Crazy storm!
@@ne1124 , Yes, many books and papers were found in St.Joseph Missouri!
I live in Topeka Kansas and the next day (Saturday morning)
after a F-5 tornado that hit Andover Kansas on March 26, 1991, I found a cancelled check that was cut in half and in my front yard from Andover Kansas.
I was mowing my front yard and was curious what the paper was and stopped my mower to see what the paper said. I did not want to chop paper all over my front yard.
That tornado in Andover Kansas was over 75 miles southwest of Topeka the previous evening!
I saved that cancelled check and still have it.
Can
This storm took Mom's/grandma house just east of down town. They said she survived it in the small bathroom. Used to joke about how the jail stands where it was
'It was a moment when we realized, we really needed people.'
We need to stop the hate.
At any moment, you might need each other. And each other is all we have really, when it comes to it.
Don't let politicians make you hate. We all want the same things, they just tell us we don't.
Bill Kurtis could read the phone book and make it sound interesting
He could read it and make it sound URGENT!
This tornado was an F5. Winds over 300 MPH.
300mph 😰😱 That’s insane that it can get to that speed.
I was 7 years old at that time, with my Mom & Dad at Walgreens having dinner. We were leaving down town just before it hit, we had just passed the capital building heading west. Coming up to Stormont Vail Hospital I will never forget that sound.
Wow I'm glad your safe I heard it sounds like a freight train 🚆 I'm from Illinois my aunt was in a tornado
😱 omg
Wait...at Walgreens, having dinner?!
@@mikepastry1162 she probably meant Woolworth’s. It was downtown and had a lunch counter in it that was open from lunch to dinner. I don’t think Woolworth’s is around anymore anywhere.
@@LoringHanley Ernest is a she? What, what is going on here?! Also, was this Woolworth's place any good?
Grew up in Chicago, watching Bill Kurtis on channel 2. Love that guy!
Bill Kurtis is, was, and always will be flippin awesome.
My family lived in the west country outside of Topeka west of Auburn Road. My father saw it starting and it was a white skinny funnel. He called to report it and the operator argued with him and after a minute or so we heard him yelling into the telephone( my father was a very soft spoken man) “ Lady, this thing is coming to my house and heading for town!!!! I’m getting out of here!” He piled all six of us children and mom into the car and I will NEVER forget my dad screeching out to the dirt road, gravel spraying everywhere, heavy rain and then hail pelting the car as he headed northeast to get away. All of us were just silent! As we peered out the back window the thing just turned and took an opposite direction but was getting bigger and changing to a dirty brown. Dad turned around and followed it, but when we got to the highway we could see all the power lines, trees and some barns just gone. A dead cow was laying in the road!!! A family by the name of Wolf had their farm hit and I recall they perished. I have NEVER forgotten the experience. I was nine years old. My dad took my four older brothers to help others with livestock and cleanup. Such a time.
I’m SO SORRY to hear about the family that perished!! God bless them.
No you didn’t.
So scary...I went thru two tornados in Indiana. Will never forget them and the devastation.
@@HiImSeanIPlayBasshilrod
I never knew that the narrator of "American Justice" was a survivor of a EF5 Tornado.
He was also a news anchor for CBS in Chicago for many years.
Also, TYT on the Internet Machine.
He survived a High End EF5 to be exact.
As someone who has lived in Tornado Alley all of my life, this is a disturbingly fascinating glimpse into fairly recent history. What is shocking to me is the fact that new housing in Topeka did not have basements. In the suburbs of St. Louis, MO, my family spent many hours huddling in our basement during tornado warnings, and so far, I have yet to enter a home that didn’t have a basement! It seems so irresponsible for builders to blatantly ignore the very real danger from tornados in KS and not provide shelter for home owners. Very cool to see what launched Bill Curtis and know how crucial his emphatic warning was in saving so many lives!
I think you have to seal basements in that area due to the groundwater which is extremely expensive. I don't believe St Loius has that issue.
Certain areas can’t have basements built because of the clay soil which makes it really expensive to do, nowadays homes have those safe shelters built within the home.
@@brizzle3903 Exactly. You may not have heard of the 2011 EF-5 tornado that destroyed Joplin, MO, Missouri tornado, killed 158 people and injured over 1,000. Most of the homes in that area didn’t have basements due to a high water table and dense limestone, and it ended up being the most costly tornado in US history.
@@oldcollegecoed from what I’ve heard a dome structure would be the most effective design against even the strongest tornadoes, if I lived out there I would go for that or a home built into a hill or something, those too are expensive but they pay for themselves in the long run
@@oldcollegecoed I was actually suppose to be dispatched to Joplin in 2011 I was in the AmeriCorps NCCC program at the time out in the Iowa regional campus and we would’ve gone there but they sent us to Minot, North Dakota instead to aid with the historic flooding that happened up there.
We were sent to the greater Smithville, Mississippi area after that part of the country was blasted by a massive EF5 tornado that tore asphalt out of the ground, seeing that destruction in person was unreal! 2011 was a wild year for weather
Everytime Bill Curtis speaks..I think of Cold Case Files on A&E..his voice is so distinctive and made for radio and tv
Bill Kurtis is a man that was born for that career. He is impeccable as what he does and definitely saved lives! That was a burial mound. It should never have been disturbed. Whether it had anything to do with the destruction is a mute point.
With that type of destruction, so many lives were saved with 16 perishing.
Something like that is never forgotten and proves first hand the strength of these disasters. Excellent documentary! ❤
I remember a minor (F1) twister in San Antonio in '74. Screaming like jet plane, shook the house and looking out the window, all you could see was like a gray fog. Scared hell outta me, a "weak" tornado. I cannot imagine an F4 or F5.
We were living at 5th and Polk, and I was to turn 13 on the 24th when that hit. While everyone else went down to the basement and hid under a mattress, my dad and I went to the front door and watched the tornado tear by us just a few blocks away and hit the capital. I remember how dark it had become, the debris flying around, and the eerie rumbling sound. Our neighborhood wasn't touched, but the devastation around us was unreal.
I live in Woodridge Illinois. On June 20th, 2021, an F3 came roaring through 2 blocks away. I went outside and watched it tear through our neighborhood.
Is Polk near the hospital?
I was there at my grandparents on Randolph Avenue. It was coming toward us but then turn to the east and hit Washburn University. I am also originally from Topeka
))]
I go get my pot down by Randolph Avenue lol
"Looters will be shot on sight." Those were the days!
yup
I was 15 living in Oakland, was working downtown ks.ave that day and barely got home to cover.
Truly the devastation was indescribable.
I remember rats coming up out of the sewers as big as dogs
Chihuahuas or Great Danes?
Bill Kurtis is so well spoken. it makes me blush listening to his golden voice.
Some people just have the perfect media speaking voice. He is definitely one of them.
A KU education does this to people.
Survived this while visiting my Grandma in her basement at 12th and Quincy. For an 8-year-old, this was a terrifying but interesting phenomenon, like the Finger of God. Her house was directly in the damage path. What most people do not understand is this Tornado lifted and returned to the ground several times that afternoon. It landed directly on top of us. Weird effects: All of her furniture was in the living room piled one on top of the other, except for appliances. The noise was deafening.
My folks and 1 year old brother (I wasn't thought of yet), lived just NE of the Washburn campus. The house was a direct hit, most likely from a sub vortice, as other houses were still standing somewhat. They found a house to rent while they rebuilt at the same address. My mom still lives there today. One family story/legend is that she washed diapers that day, as disposables were new and hideously expensive. She didn't hang them up outside as it looked like it could rain to her, so she draped them over a line in the basement. As the tornado passed over, these diapers drifted up and were suspended several feet above the line. Then, when the pressure equalized, they floated back down to the ground. That scared the bejeezus out of her. There's also a family heirloom, a barometer with the bellows blown out....recording the exact pressure when it passed by.
@Deborah Huckstep, I was down there at WIBW when they interviewed your mother (Kay Conn) on the 50 year anniversary. I was on the show as well.
I sent Kay a video (DVD)of this F-5 tornado (about a minute long) after I saw her at WIBW. Has some video of damage as well we took the next morning after the tornado.
We live there too. My wife is obsessed with Kansas history, even minored in it at Washburn University. She would lose her mind if she could see that barometer! She's talked for years about trying to start a museum of important events that happened here and the immediate area. Of interviewing people and writing a book about them. She is a proud Kansas woman!
I'm glad that your family made it out of that horrific event alive! The diapers story was spooky, but intriguing. You mentioned the Barometer, with the bellows blown out, but that it had recorded the pressure beforehand. Might I ask:What was the Barometric Pressure at the time of the Barometer's point of failure? Just curious. Have a great day, and stay safe!!!
@@joshuacook4116 You and your Wife are what I call True Kansas Patriots! Please take that name as a High Honor, Sir, because I mean every word of it! May you and your Wife have a blessed life! ✝️✝️✝️🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
@@ronaldshank7589, I was at WIBW when they were doing interviews to be on WIBW’S 50 year anniversary of this F-5 tornado. WIBW put this show on TH-cam called: Topeka’s Tragedy Remembering The 66 Tornado.
I was the first to be interviewed when they asked if anyone had video of this tornado or video of damage of this tornado. I had 8 mm film (color) of both the tornado ( and damage after the tornado) and was quickly the first to be interviewed. Some of our family color video was put on the show.
Before I was interviewed, I just happened to be sitting at the table right next to Kay Conn. (The one who had the barometer) I saw that barometer and Ralf Hipp was doing a brief interview with her. Kay told her story what she went through. After she was finished all I could say was wow!
Everyone I saw that day was put on the show. What I could not understand is why WIBW did not put her barometer story on the 50 year anniversary show. I thought that was so interesting but they did not put it on the show. Especially since she brought the Barometer with her down to WIBW.
This video was done by the History Channel in 2000 when it was still the most damaging tornado of all time. (Inflation adjusted dollars) In 2011, the Joplin tornado took over the Topeka tornado as the most damaging tornado of all time.
Yep, the gawking. A tornado hit my county one year, causing significant damage and we even had people from neighboring states drive over. The gawkers would drive through downed power lines, caused traffic jams making it difficult for emergency workers, the Red Cross to get to residents, lines of cars driving through neighborhoods to see the destruction. I’m sure they don’t realize the problems they cause and that it’s also very offensive to the residents. I didn’t understand why TV and radio stations weren’t contacted and asked to broadcast to please stay out of the area for at least the first few days so residents could be helped.
People are mostly idiots. If they brought food & clothes it would have been okay.
I was practically a livelong resident of Topeka, my apartment was just east of 29th & Gage, I was told that our apartment building was just completed in 1964, it survived with virtually no damage while the ones across the street were destroyed. You'd be surprised how many people still don't have basements. My ex and I used to go up to Burnett's mound to watch the storms roll in.
They found debris all the way up in St. Joseph Mo. after the destruction
i bet you and your ex did more than storm watch on that mound, Leora.
@@calewilliamson8788 a bit tasteless, Cale.
@@lilrig8112 bet he's right though!
The only thing I have to disagree with Mr Kurtis here is that the tornado wasn't "half a block wide", it was half a MILE wide. I just double checked the stats. It also didn't bounce around. It was on the ground for 22 miles.
I was in the fourth grade when this tornado hit I was on the Air Force Base and Topeka I can remember my dad coming home from the side of the base where are the planes he was a Pilot and they him and eventually guys had seen the tornado on their radar and he hopped in the salon mustang and board across the base to the housing area make sure that all of us were in the basement I can remember looking out the glass window at it we were very lucky he came up to the fence of the runway but never came on the pace we were very very lucky but I can remember seeing it feeling it smelling it and afterwords my brother had been at college doing some type of thing for high school but he was OK I also remember hearing that part of that telescope from the college and books or in other states they were blown that far away I still get emotional about it it’s one of those things I’ll never forget I just bless all the people that were there on that day and I’m so glad my dad came home because we were standing outside playing catch right now bikes how much of kids in the neighborhood
My grandpa was 17 at the time and had a triumph bonnevile, he rode around on his motorcycle just half an hour after the tornado passed, he said he drove around the city and found whiskey bottles sunk into ditches around the city that were still intact. He pulled them out and took them home with him. He also saw plastic straws that where stuck in trees likes knives. He was lucky enough to be on the north side of the river and lived through it, he said one side of the sky was bright blue and the other side was just completely black, sounds cool to me but I can’t imagine what it was like to experience it
I remember this like it was yesterday. I got picked up in my car and flew a couple blocks!! Lucky I survived, I still own the car today as reminder and display of the power!!
God had his hand on you.
I just turned six and our house was the next to the last house to be hit by this thing. Strange thing we are Potawatomi.
Dang!
Respect to you and your people
I was in a basement with my parents that day. It was terrifying.
Was your dad a baseball umpire or something?
@@christopherblack7342 no. Just no.
@@tabortoothtiger7580 how do you know? Growing up in Topeka Mr. Custenborder was known as one of the best umps in the city...
@@christopherblack7342 He worked hard at umpiring. He was able to work 3 Minor league games for the Topeka Reds one year. Sadly he passed in 2019.
@@christopherblack7342 He was.
My mother was there! I am so glad that the finally did a real documentary like so many other storms after all it was the costliest natural disaster in American history in 1966 dollars.
And you have footage I haven't ever seen!
I witnessed my first tornado 🌪️ in 2005, when I moved onto Fort Riley, KS while my husband was deployed to Iraq. As a coastal South Carolina girl, I've seen my share 0f hurricanes, namely Hugo, but always wanted to SEE a twister. They are a *force!*
Hearing them talk about what their radar couldn't do just makes me appreciate the current ability we have. When the outbreak hit Missouri a few weeks ago, the weather people not only could track storm development on doppler radar, they could track the actual on the ground storms by their debris balls in the air!
It was because of the outbreak of 1974 that we have the marvelous technology we have today. That and every tornado before and since that left a record saying how forecasters couldn’t verify on radar what was happening until it happened. Doppler has definitely changed how forecasters report the reality of these storms and how many of us relate to what they tell us
I was 4 years old when the tornado struck. We lived in the Oakland neighborhood, the twister passed just a block and a half away from our house. Mostly I remember the noise, and the calmness of my parents, especially that of my mother. Our house, which my father still resides, sustained minor damage. We were without power so went to stay at my grandparents place which was not in line with, or near the damage path. I remember the trip over there, seeing the destruction, and asking my dad why there were soldiers about. It took years for all the physical scars of destruction to be repaired. The last of which was the section of the state house dome that was replaced. The dome of the Kansas capital building is made of copper. After many years the copper cladding had turned green with age, but the repaired section was natural copper. It wasn't until a major overhaul of the capital about 10 or more years ago that the dome was cleaned up to its all natural copper sheen. The house I bought and reside in is on the very west side of the mound. It was built in 1967, the year after the tornado. Surely if it had been built in '65 or '66 it, and the entire neighborhood would have been destroyed. The "Topeka Tornado" often times seems to be overlooked. This may be because there is so little video of the event. This is a very good documentary. I used to be an avid History Channel viewer but missed this one. Thank you for uploading it.
the main twister that would form me was the Exnia twister if the early 70s,I did not live there but recall the storms that night and it developed a lifeline fascination for twisters.Im 57.
@@lilacsunshine3044 Xenia, OH?
This is false. You weren’t there.
Seems like every one would have a storm celled and protected areas for animals
This is truly a fantastic document of Topeka history! Thank you for making this available.
When this happened I was a year and a half old. My family lived in Colorado. My Parents took me to Illinois for my step brothers High School Graduation and to meet his baby brother for the first time. I don't recall any of it but my Parents said on the way home we were playing tag with this tornado. We went thru Topeka after it hit. Initially, my Dad planed on staying over night in Topeka, but that of course didn't work out.
I was eleven that day and was annoyed because weather announcements kept breaking in to my favorite TV show, "Lost in Space". Then the sirens went off. My mom and my sisters and I hid in the basement under a bed. I did hear Bill Kurtis and his "For God's sake, take cover!"
My dad was at a church downtown, much nearer to the path of the tornado. He was at a church meeting, in the basement, and the guys didn't know there was a storm until they went upstairs to look through the east tower door of the church. Dad described what he saw as "the sky was black with debris".
"Warning, Will Robinson! Danger, Danger!"
Denise, we have to be the same age. While I recall news coverage of this event from the safety of my hometown in Lawrence, KS - half an hour drive away from Topeka, only today (6-24-24) am I viewing this documentary for the first time. I had NO idea the devastation was as widespread as depicted in this report. I knew it was bad - but holy cow! 22 miles of destruction through the city and heavy damage to the Washburn campus? I never realized it until now.
Wow, I just drove down the 75 from Omaha to Houston a couple of days ago, and looked right near Gage Road and saw the mound and water tower. I had just watched this video last week.
I remember this when this happened, and people was saying don't disturb that mountain,and look what, Topeka almost got wiped off the map!!
Wrong. The mountain protected nothing. Science over mythology
Lived in Topeka Ks, seen where a car went through the roof of the Capital building❤❤
I was 6 (almost 7) and living near Salina, KS about 2 hrs away from Topeka. A small tornado had done some damage at our place about a year before, but I couldn't believe my eyes when we drove to Topeka about a week after the event and saw the damage firsthand! It gave me a healthy respect for tornadoes which continues to this day!!
Wow
Tornadoes are nothing to take lightly. I went through 2 F2 tornadoes as a kid in Michigan in the 60s ( one in 1967, the other in 1969). Many homes lost roofs (ours included), garages, sheds, blown out windows, and lots of tree damage. School had just let out for the summer both times, and both times my parents were working, so I went through them alone but had friends shelter with me in my basement, under the stairwell. Our damage was comparatively nothing compared to the Topeka monster. I have the utmost respect for tornadoes and anything else that Nature can dish out. Nature is in control. (Jan Griffiths).
Weather news anchors are the real unsung heros of the community that dont get enough credit. Often times they are the ONLY forms of defense against natural disasters like tornados. I once heard a Chicago weather man say straight up there WILL be tornados in this area tomorrow so I made my trip earlier to get ahead of the storm. Sure enough a massive wedge tornado went through the highway that had stuck on traffic that I would of been on if I had not left 30 minutes early and yes there was many deaths involved in that tornado. It was one of the worst tornado disasters in the history of that state it was so powerful it carried a 30,000 pound fertilizer tank almost a mile.
In Chicago we treasure ours. Tom skilling ❤️
My family woke up to a tornado siren at 2:45am. I immediately turned on the tv and there was our weatherman, David Hartmann reporting from the studio, telling us everything we needed to know.
Was that in 1967
@@user-vh2pk6bd3g No it was the 2014 Mayflower Vilonia Arkansas tornado.
@@dianedavis324 Yep I lived in illinois for years the weather people are the best there.
Who else is watching this because they live in (or around) kansas?
Yessir
I've lived in Topeka for 16 years; my husband’s & my house is just 2 blocks west of 29th & Gage, 1/2 mile from the tornado’s path & about 1 mile north of Burnett's Mound.
America loves Bill Curtis.
I'm a New Yorker and I've always found tornado alley and tornadoes in general strangely beautiful, but I don't have the nerve to live there for fear of being obliterated by one.
I’ve lived in tornado alley for 32 years and I’ve never seen a tornado.
@Marlena, exactly why I wouldn't live on a coast because if hurricanes. I'd rather take my chances with tornadoes.
Tornadoes are awesome in the original definition of the word: inspiring wonder and terror.
And yet you live with hurricanes and flooding. Go figure.
I lived through the tornadoes that went through Mayfield KY, 12/10 /2021 almost 80 people were killed and injured 100s most of our town is gone! Has to be the worst thing that I have ever seen, over two weeks later and they finally accounted for all the missing people!!!
Perhaps it was but that was not the first time Mayfield was hit by a tornado in December Once before Christmas another one hit in the year 2000. You very rarely hear about that one at all.
I first watched this on The History Channel years ago and have been waiting to see this again. Thanks for posting!
There is also a great book about the Topeka Tornado called "And Hell Followed With It" that I highly recommend. Once I started reading it I couldn't stop.
Incredible book.
Videos like these are so important. People DO forget. A few years back in Illinois a town got hit and harmed a lot of people. It’s situated in a valley and residents believed that it would protect them. People become complacent. We need to keep this knowledge alive.
You talking about Ottawa or Plainfield
@@patrickharvey158 I was thinking of Washington.
@@kbf9644 oh I remember that one I was in Rockdale just before they toned out the coal city tornado from the same storm I remember sitting on the apron of the firehouse and watching the corn stalks and mail from Washington fall on the street in front of us
@@patrickharvey158 I live close to the Rochelle / Kirkland tornado. Some things you never forget, even if you’re just an outside witness.
That Plainfield twister though…. That is one of the nastiest ones of seen. Came out of nowhere and just decimated everything in its path. That’s the one up here that scares me.
@@kbf9644 my dad responded to the Plainfield tornado he never really talked about it and wouldn't really watch twister or anything after that
Survived a tornado 54 yrs ago. Clarksdale MS.
My uncle lived just off Topeka Blvd. His house and the one next door received only some moderate damage, rest of the block and to the west was leveled. Uncle Bob dodged a big bullet that day.
A friend lives on the back side of the mound and says she sees an Indian in her home every now and again.
Today june 8th 2022 is the 56th anniversary of the topeka kansas 1966 tornado. Usually the 50th year anniversary of a disaster is the start when survivors of a disaster seem to dwindle due to passage of time. The 100th anniversary of a disaster is when it's rare when a survivor of a disaster is still alive.
@Anarchist Atheist, I am a survivor of this F-5 tornado on Wednesday June 8th, 1966 tornado.
I was 6 years old. I was on the 1 year and 50 year specials of this F-5 tornado on WIBW in Topeka, Kansas.
I have color video (1 minute video of this F-5 tornado) on Burnett’s Mound and also have over 10 minutes color video (8 mm film) from our movie camera that night.
Tornadoes do very strange things. I live in an area known for its tornadoes. Once a tornado hit this house and killed a woman in the bed. A bottle of aspirin on a night stand by the bed was picked up and the aspirin in it was pulverized and set back down on the night stand
Wow! Just like our town here in Minnesota. We had a bluff where Chief Hole in the Day was buried and it was said not to disturb his grave as he will protect the town. They built US highway 10 and had to move his grave to another spot and that was back in 1971 and the following year we suffered the worst flooding ever!
Wow crazy to hear that someone was literally sand blasted by a tornado, and survived, but had tiny particles in his skin that would not come out until the part of the skin they were embedded in was shedded.
That happens quite frequently with tornado injuries. Those pieces get driven deep into the skin, and they have to get pushed out (rejected) over time. That can take years. (Jan Griffiths).
@@douglasgriffiths3534 I know particles can enter the skin. Happens with other stuff, like certain paints. Sauna apparently works a bit.
A long time ago, a wasp stung me on the soft underside of my upper arm, near my armpit. Years later, I was working as a beach server and I started noticing this weird, tiny dark mark on my arm which slowly started to look like a splinter almost “woven” into my skin like a single needle stitch.
Long story short, I finally got it out and after long, long moments of confusion, I realized it was the wasp’s stinger from years prior.
I still have a very faint indentation of a scar and it still amazes me how long it took to work its way out of my skin.
I'm amazed at the amount of people that were there and remember this day or were told stories growing up. Hands down the most first hand accounts in a comment section I have ever seen. Incredible. Sending you all good vibes.
My late great uncle went to homestead Florida after Andrew. He was selected by the Hillsborough sheriffs department along with his dog scout for search and rescue/recovery. He showed me pictures he took of the devastation. One had a drinking straw driven into a concrete light pole. The one that stands out most was an I beam 18 inches wide from homestead AFB, twisted up like a silly straw. Spiraled and curled up. These were attributes of severe tornadoes spun off by Andrew. God bless and keep you all who deal with these killers yearly.
It's sad that the first thought of some people immediately following this tragedy is not, "how can I help others?", rather "how much can I steal and loot?" It was true then and it's true today!
And the stupid idiots that think poesessions are important are the one's that end up in Hell because their poesessions are their God and not our Eternal Father in Heaven. People's identities are going to put them in such a bad place after they pass on from this lifetime. I just wished that they knew better and cared more about the most important things life knowing the difference between right and wrong and that Heavenly Father is the most important thing in life not what we see in our eyes.
Look, if I found a strangers possession after a tornado…..I would try to hold on to it so I could give it to the police or try to return it in a few days when things settle down.
I would not go out of my way to steal thing right after a disaster!!
Help the trapped and injured, and then go try to get stuff so they could be retuned to their rightful owners.
Things like photographs, documents, ID’s, guns, nice tools…..will be gathered and then given to the police or the owners.
I would take things like towels and first aid materials to help the injured and scared. That’s it.
Maybe food and water to help those immediately after.
I told my local Walmart that if a tornado hit, I would probably “steal” towels, bandages, shovels, flashlights, batteries, ext to help those trapped or injured until full help arrives (takes a few hours sometimes). Plus first responders could use the spray paint for search and rescue (see what they did after Katrina).
I would NOT take electronics, money, jewelry, or silly things (maybe a few small cheap toys and books for traumatized kids).
After the looking at me, the manager acknowledged this. Especially if the Walmart and surrounding area was hit badly.
It’s a small town. Heaven forbid if the hospital gets hit!
I believe in Karma. She can be a real Bitch.
After the Tsunami in Japan. People went to look for possessions (after search and rescue was done) to return to survivors, they organized them into baskets (with notes where they were found) and gave them to police.
Even money was shorted and given to police.
After seeing that, I could see how my Grandpa developed a small bit of respect for the Japanese after WW2.
He saw Hell.
Yeah, people are assholes
You have a good heart,equarg.
Not like they had a house to put the items in even if they wanted too 😭
I was stationed in Topeka at Forbes AFB in 69 and driving back to base one night the sirens went off and I was amazed at how empty and errie the streets suddenly became. No cars no people! I pulled off an went into Denny’s for some cover. Topekan’s certainly took tornado warnings seriously at that time.
I was stationed at Forbes in 1969 also, and I remember driving up to Burnett's Mound and looking out west and seeing the swath of destroyed trees and looking toward the East and seeing the damage to the buildings, the Capitol Building not yet repaired from that twister!
The best tornado documentary I have seen. I had no idea about this event and I'm a tornado watching guy!
This man who I admire so much in my life watching him on TV, got his start here with his wife and young baby going through one hell of a storm. Blessings to everyone!.
His baby daughter is a very dear friend of mine.
Very special person.
This is the way Madison, Indiana looked when hit by a tornado during the 1960s. It flattened the top of madison.
I grew up in Topeka near 10th and Gage. I was 6 years old. I remember this day well.
My dad used to hang in the boulevard when he was in high school hee the same age as you, born in 1960. He owned a bar out at lake wabaunsee back in his day
I was nine years old living in Lawrence KS when this tornado struck Topeka. Over the next couple days my dad and I drove down there and saw the destruction. When I see this video here reminds me of that time I had with my dad.
Did Lawrence KS have a big raid on it in the Civil War from Confederates?
@@lorenkargard8303 yes Lawrence had attacks from the south and from Missouri. The people who attacked Lawrence were of quantrill's Raiders and other Confederates. We were a free state and were abolitionists helping with the Underground Railroad. These are some of the reasons why Lawrence was attacked. There's actually a lot of history on it that you could look up and find out more if you're interested
@@greggibler2215 Jayhawks
I was three years old and living in wichita. I can remember being outside playing. My mom was frying chicken and she came out to take clothes off the clothesline. The sky got so dark and sirens were going off. All.the neighbors were out yelling a tornado was coming. People were running everywhere. Next thing I remember is being in someones cellar with a bunch of people. There was one chair and I remember water dripping from the ceiling. That's all I remember.
It’s amazing how many trees have been planted since then
Maybe they should have respected Burnett's Mound! Thankful for modern technology that enables people to predict tornados, one of nature's most terrifying forces
BORN AND RAISED IN TOPEKA ANY PROUD OF IT. NOW DAYS, IT WOULD BE EF5. LIVED ON 7 HUNDRED BLOCK ON LANE. I REMEMBER FEW DAYS BEFORE THE TORNADO THE CITY HAD SOME MAJOR STORMS WHICH THEY SOUND THE ALARM. ITS AMAZING WHAT TORNADOES CAN DO.
I’ll NEVER forget that sound. It sounded like ten freight trains rushing all towards you. I was terrified. I still dream about it.
My buddy Dock Higgs died that day. RIP Dock.
"Looters will be shot on site". That should still happen today.
technically, it should be "Looters will be shot on sight ON the site"
Yes 💯🙌
My state Kentucky just had a devastating destructive tornado last week December 10th-11th 2021. The very worst we’ve ever had and this tornado was on the ground for over 220 miles and went through 4 states with hitting Kentucky the hardest
I have watched so many interviews and read so many articles about this. What Kentucky went through was so absolutely horrific. I truly feel for so many people that not only lost everything but lost love ones and friends. Those scars run real deep.
@@fatbottombiker3038 yes it is truly devastating. I am very grateful for it dissipating before hitting us as hard but what a lot of families went through is very tragic 🙏🏻
36:30 We noticed the same odor in Parkersburg after the EF5 in 2008. It was in my car for months afterward. No amount of cleaning could get rid of the smell. It's indescribable.
If you’d have lived in Kansas you’d know tornadoes are a yearly occurrence. Sat on the porch, behind my dad, as a tornado came within blocks of our house in Lyons while the rest of the family took refuge in an semi underground house across the street. We’d been getting ready for catholic confirmation for my older sister.
I'll never understand why construction of homes is allowed with no kind of tornado shelter in tornado alley. It seems so very irresponsible and heart less.
It is extremely rare for a tornado to cause this kind of destruction.
@@elliebellie7816 , You are right! 1 in 1000 tornadoes is a F-5 tornado. Even then, the chances a F-5 tornado hitting your house and hitting the city you live in is basically zero.
$$$$$
@@markr.devereux3385 That's the first thing I'd get if I moved to Kansas/Missouri/Nebraska/Texas/Oklahoma. I remember what happened to Dorothy.
It's the same as any other building shortcuts that lead to disaster, people decide it's not worth the expense.
I was a child. We ran to the ladies house basement a few houses down. Dad/ mom was at work. It changed life.After the roar and shaking quit. As we walked out and cross the street and looked behind the house facing ours. Whole blocks were gone.Going to school and few kids there. Never knowing where your classmates or friends went. The quiet and the sullen faces. No one really looking at each other. I will never forget it.
I'll bet Bill Kurtis probably spent some time with Gary England. If you're from Oklahoma and know anything about doppler radar, you know who Gary England is. That aside, I love Bill Kurtis and the old Cold Case Files.
I'm not from Okie but I know who Gary England is. I've seen many videos from the 1999 Moore EF5
I was in my car in St. Louis, MO, when an f2 touchdown just blocks from my workplace. I was on the Interstate, in rush hour traffic was going to try to outrun it but was in standstill traffic. I never saw it coming because it was rain wrapped. I suddenly see a horizontal wall of cloud covered debris appear directly in front of me and proceeded to roll right over me. It was only F1 when it passed directly over me and I was inside the funnel and experienced all four direction of winds of the wall of the funnel- most terrifying experience I've ever had! It was moving our cars all over the place like they were nothing, it wasn't as loud as a freight train (almost) it was more like a jet plane & a very loud growling noise- very scary! Just as it passed over the interstate, it turned into an f2 tornado & it started flipping 18-wheeler trailers around like pick up sticks had it been an f2 when it passed over me, or others,,, cars could have been flipped or thrown and a lot more injuries or deaths could have occurred- I thanked God for that. Luckily it only hit a warehouse area and no one was injured. I can't imagine a larger tornado- my heart truly goes out to those that survive such a disaster. F1 scared the bejesus out of me! (* This was in 1998 so they had all the equipment to measure everything, Doppler radar etc. I never heard the sirens, it had just formed and touched down just a few blocks from where I was)
It’s crazy to me that this storm was as recent for them as 1987 is to us.
The siren that was shown in the yellow one is either a thunderbolt 1000 or a 1,000t and that is my favorite siren that is a civil defense siren from World War II
Thank you for no evil Capitalistic commercials !