Udall Tornado May 1955, Cowley County, Kansas

Storm report
Tornado of Blackwell, Oklahoma-Udall, Kansas
May 25, 1955

The climax of several days of tornadic and severe thunderstorm activity late in May 1955 occurred on the night of Wednesday, May 25th. A tornado struck at Blackwell, Oklahoma, killing 20 and injuring 250 with property damage in the millions.

About an hour later a tornado struck Udall, Kansas, some 40 miles north-northeast of Blackwell. The tornado traveled in a general southwest to northeast direction across the center of town. Most of this south-central Kansas town of about 500 people was leveled. The death toll stands at 80 at this writing, and 250 were injured.

UDALL, KANSAS

Udall, Kansas, about 30 miles southeast of Wichita, underwent almost complete destruction from the tornado which struck about 2235 CST. Motorists were reported to have seen the tornado funnel approaching Udall. It struck the southwest corner of the town first, traveling almost due northeast with destruction occurring over the entire width of the town about three-fourths of a mile. The only habitable structure left in town was a frame dwelling with only minor damage on the extreme northwest edge of town. Except for a few other dwellings in the northwest corner of town which were twisted, moved, and badly damaged, the only building in town not completely leveled were a few two-story masonry buildings from which the upper story had been removed. There was evidence of rotation although it was confused somewhat by the pattern of lightweight debris, much of which indicated a southwest to northeast flow. It was common, for instance to see a large tree having fallen to the southwest, and a large piece of tin wrapped around a smaller nearby tree with its free edge pointing northeastward, obviously having been carried by a southwest wind. Destruction requiring immense forces however did yield indications of cyclonic rotation. A municipal water tower in the northwest part of town was toppled toward the southwest. The center of rotation passed across and almost right angles to a train of railroad cars on a railroad siding. The cars to the northwest of the center were blown off the tracks to the southwest and the cars between (over a distance of about 1 ? city blocks) were still on the tracks.

Some evidence was found of "explosive" effects. A concrete block building about 30 feet by 40 feet had stood in the southwest part of town and was apparently near the path of the center of the tornado. All four walls had fallen outward, leaving the floor area relatively clear of debris.
Eyewitness accounts were not available from Udall until several days afterward because of understandable confusion and the shock that most survivors suffered. Mr. Wheeler Martin, a survivor from Udall, reported that there was a "roaring noise" at about 2220 CST followed by hail and rain. The wind was from the southwest and getting stronger. After a few minutes, the house began to shake. At 2235 CST it "collapsed." The hail continued for several minutes. Beyond Udall, the path of major destruction ended. Spotty damage extended for 18 miles east-northeast of Udall.
A carefully conducted survey of damage accomplished by Mr. Phillips revealed almost positive indications that at least from the time the tornado crossed U.S. Highway 166 and throughout its northward traverse through Udall, a continuous path of destruction was apparent. There was some "skipping" but the greatest skip was on the order of 3 1/2 miles. This evidence together with the radar evidence strongly suggests that this one storm had a continuous path for more then 50 miles. (Source: NOAA's National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office)

UDALL, KAN., LEFT RUINED BY TWISTER

Udall, Kan. - Tornadoes that stitched a pattern of death across five states in two days vanished Thursday night.

At least 115 persons were killed and more than 700 injured. Millions of dollars worth of property were destroyed.

The focal point of the far flung storm was this little town of 500, devastated by the fury of a funnel that killed 62 persons, many of whom were sleeping when the tornado struck without warning. More than 200 others were injured and taken to hospitals and relief centers.

Eighty miles south of here a tornado demolished a 36-square block residential and factory area in Blackwell, Okla., killing 18 persons and injuring more than 500.

The twisting winds brought death to 79 in Kansas, 20 in Oklahoma, 15 in Texas and one in Missouri. Tornadoes struck Blakeley, Ark., and Wathena, Kan., Thursday night and no one was killed. Ten or 12 homes were destroyed at Blakeley, a mile south of Jessieville, Ark.

In this little town only four buildings were left standing and rescue workers still were looking for casualties. A report in Wichita said eight more bodies had been found here but this count not be verified.

Mortuaries in Winfield and Wichita had received 62 bodies and only 41 had been identified. Some grief stricken residents still searched mortuaries and hospitals for their loved ones.

One father, Jimmy Costlow, was elated to find his son alive in a Wichita hospital but later found the body of his wife in a Winfield mortuary.
Others warily called at information centers, trying to locate relatives and friends. National Guardsmen stood guard over the debris of the town that practically disappeared in a matter of minutes.

Threat of further twisters hung over the area. The Kansas City Weather Bureau said tornadic conditions would continue until midnight over much of eastern Kansas, Missouri and adjoining areas. The black funnels of destruction were reported Thursday night over Fort Scott, Kan. and Chillicot moving northeast. Neither on the ground.

Most of damage was Wednesday night. Early on the twisters began popping up and Missouri counted its first fatality when a farmer was crushed to death in his barn near Paris in the northeast section of the state. Other Missouri areas reporting tornado damage but no casualties were Salisbury, Tipton and Gilman City.

The vicious winds whipped down on the Mississippi River near St. Louis and capsized a tugboat, towing a barge on which 60 school children and 47 parents from Ladue, Mo., had embarked for an excursion.

Two motorboats rushed to the helpless barge and took off the passengers safely.

Five members of one family were killed by a small twister that struck the little community of Oxford, Kansas, 10 miles south of Udall.

Five others in the family were injured.

Two persons were killed and one critically injured by a tornado that struck Sweetwater, Okla., 140 miles west of Oklahoma City.

Fifteen airmen died in the flaming crash of a B-35 bomber in rugged territory 60 miles from San Angelo, Texas. Air Force spokesmen said apparently the big craft was snapped up by a howling tornado skipping high above the ground.

Tornado damage, but no casualties, also was reported from Geuda Springs, Pittsburg, Antonino, Leavenworth and Millwood, Kansas., and in these Oklahoma communities: Durant, Erick, Shattuck, Mayfield, Camargo, Leedey, Talgo, Cheyenne, Deer Creek and Strong City. Some property was damaged also on the south edge of Oklahoma City.

The spring's most devasting tornadoes - sprang from a squall line that started pushing thunderstorms and heavy rain northeastward from the Texas Panhandle late Wednesday.

The rain continued in most areas after the twisters had done their deadly work. Rescue efforts were hampered by mud, tangled communication lines, wreckage jammed streets and loss of lighting facilities.

Throughout Thursday morning, teams of rescuers dug into the piles of rubble hunting additional victims.

Johnny Walker, 37 and his wife were preparing to retire about 10:30 p.m. when the blow hit Udall. Their lights suddenly went out.

"I jumped up and the door blew open," Walker related. "I forced it shut. Then my wife put her arms around my waist and we crawled to the stairway… There was an explosion it seemed like and all the windows went out of the house….The man living just north of us was blown out of his house. He staggered over to my place and we stayed there together."

After the tornado had passed, Walker said, he and the neighbor, Gus Bucholz, about 70, went outside.

"We saw bodies lying along the street and those that were dead we just left lying. We kept looking for the others (living)," he added.

The injured were described by Nurse Merle Wheelen at a hospital at nearby Winfield, as suffering from all types of hurts from "broken bones to sticks stuck in their bodies."

Only three business places - the bank, post office and Odd Fellow home were left standing in Udall. The Red Cross, Civil Defense and Salvation Army quickly set up headquarters in them. The town's new $350,000 high school building was leveled.

Civil Defense workers said it might be 48 hours before all persons can be accounted for. Short wave radio operators were working with the Red Cross to register known victims, dead and living, who were taken to nearby towns.

National Guard units patrolled the street to preserve order and prevent looting.

The scene was similar at Blackwell where the twister cut a swath 8 blocks long and 2-1/2 blocks wide, sucking in cars, parts of buildings, and light structures from either side. The death list fluctuated as duplications were eliminated and new names added.

Police Chief Forrest Coffelt of Blackwell said he had been warned by the Oklahoma City Weather Bureau before the tornado hit that radar reports showed destructive winds at a high level but that forecasters did not expect them to drop.

Coffelt said the town had had so many alerts lately that he didn't turn on the warning sirens.

New woes piled up Thursday. The Oklahoma city Weather Bureau said rivers and creeks were rising as result of the torrential rains and a flood crest is headed for Blackwell on the Chikaskia River. The Cimarron already was out of its banks in the Panhandle and the North Canadian was above flood stage.

Nine bodies were removed from wreckage of the stricken B-36 bomber northwest of San Angelo and search was under way for the six other airmen known to have been aboard when the ship left Walker Air Force Base at Rosewell, N.M. Reports from the scene said four of the plane's 10 engines were ripped away when it was caught in the violent storm - possibly a tornado.

Federal relief was assured with announcement by the Small Business Administration in Washington that the tornado areas in Oklahoma and Kansas had been declared disaster areas. This makes persons whose homes or businesses have been destroyed eligible for 3 per cent 20-year rehabilitation loans without a dollar ceiling.

At Blackwell police said the Chikaskia River, swollen by 3-inch rains upstream in Kansas, would be two feet above flood stage by Friday.

The river borders on the residential and industrial area devastated by Oklahoma's worst tornado since 106 were killed at Woodward eight years ago.

Rescue workers evacuated all persons from the wrecked area in advance of the flood which threatened to increase the damage already estimated in the millions of dollars.

No lives were believed threatened, but the high water could ruin what little furniture and other belongings storm survivors have tried to salvage.
Twisters hit 11 cities in Oklahoma Wednesday night and early Thursday. The latest storms caused minor damage at Durant and Oklahoma City shortly before dawn. Two persons were killed at Sweetwater in Roger Mills county, near the Texas border.

An estimate 1,500 volunteers and officers rushed to the stricken area for the gigantic task of digging out bodies, aiding the injured and finding food, clothing and shelter for the homeless.

More than 500 were treated in Blackwell and in surrounding towns near the Kansas border. Ninety-five remained in a Blackwell hospital and an undetermined number of casualties were taken to nearby cities.

Churches were turned into emergency dormitories. The Salvation Army set up bunks for 500 persons. Field kitchens were established to feed the army of rescue workers and refugees. Clothing bundles were dispatched from other cities.

CASUALTY LISTS
The list of dead in Wednesday night's tornadoes as compiled by the Associated Press from Red Cross, Civil Defense and other reports:
At Oxford, Kansas
Nancy King, 12
Barbara Ann King, 11
Ronnie King, 6
Billie King, 5
Vicki King, 3
At Udall, Kan
Mrs. L. D. Beall, about 78
Mrs. Anna Carlson
Gary Atkinson, 10
Billie Atkins
B. P. Rudd, 85
J. A. Reeves
L. N. Nah
Mrs. Sarah LeForce, 86
Mrs. Gertie Ward, 80 Dexter, Kan.
J. Edward Taylor
Ricky Wyckoff
Mike Wood
Roland Hutchinson
Richard L. Seibe
Mrs. Yuton Allison
Mrs. Dick (Mamie) Stone
Clinton Wayne Turner
Billie Kennedy
Augusta Miller
Florence Binford
Mr. Boyd (first name unavailable)
Mrs. Florence Boyd
Helen Storey, 67
Mrs. Sadie Storey, about 64
George Karnes
Mrs. George Karnes
Mr. Clodfelter (first name unavailable), janitor for a Udall church
Mary E. taylor
Alpha A. Lawson
Mrs. D. P. Simons, 67
Patricia Boyd
Mary Florence Horn
Holan Butcher, 45
Oran Butcher, 6
Emma Foulks
Mrs. Jennie Atkins
Mrs. Anna Harvey
Mrs. Opal Sherman
Sylvania Mangrum, 6 months
Michael ray Mangrum, 4
Mrs. Lucie Sargeant
Mrs.Mary Reeves
Mrs. Stella Kennedy
A. C. Sherman
Lee Ann Kennedy
Harvey Ray Kennedy
BLACKWELL, OKLA.
Mrs. Hugh Embry
Mrs. Jessie Bird
R. L. Riley
Shelby Riley
Sherry Riley (6 months)
Mrs. Annie Ballinger
James N. Ellington
Alex Butler
Terry Ray Denton, 3
Ed Hartman
Clarence Overholt
Charles Benson
D. A. Kling
Mrs. W. A. Burris
J. H. Bartell, 60
Mrs. Eugene Stiles
Mrs. J. B. Larson
One victim unidentified
WEST TEXAS B-36 CRASH
Capt. L. C. Basinger, China Grove, N.C.
Capt. Harold V. Bowman, Lowell, Ark.
Capt. Ernest R. Morton, Wintrhop , Harbor, Ill.
Capt. Arthur R. Fred, Waltonville, Ill.
Capt. Charles C. Zalonka, Pottsville, Penn.
Capt. Nelson H. Ensor, Sparks, Md.
Second Lt. Richard B. Glover, Miami, Fla.
T/Sgt. Leonard T. Cannon, Troutdale, Ore.
Airman Second Class Clarence M. McNeil, Philadelphia, PA
T/SGT. David C. Meser, Erwin, N.C.
T/SGT. Charles J. Davis, Miami, Fla.
Airman First Class Charles L. Davis, Georgetown, LA
Airman First Class Ernest J. Coffinger Jr., Schuylerville, N.Y.
Airman First Class Billy H. Kershner, Kennewich, Wash.
T/SGT. Walter D. Longley, Lowell, Mass.
(Dallas Morning News, Section Part 1, Page 1, May 27, 1955)
WORKERS CLEAR STRICKEN TOWN

Udall, Kan. - Public and private purses opened generously and strong-muscled strangers worked overtime Friday to restore life to this tornado-destroyed town.

Victim of the worst storm disaster in Kansas history, Udall was left with only one habitable structure - a small residence. Already 73 dead and more than 200 injured had been counted out of a population of 500. An estimated 50 were missing.

The casualties were part of the 114 killed and more than 700 injured in a serious of vicious twisters that ripped through Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri Wednesday night and Thursday. Property damage in the Midcontinet area was estimated in the millons.

President Eisenhower, responding to an appear from Gov. Fred Hall of Kansas, Friday authorized the Civil Defense Administration to use whatever funds are necessary to aid the state's stricken.

The Red Cross, establishing a field headquarters at Arkansas City, Kan., for both Kansas and Oklahoma, reported a quick and generous public response to appeals for funds. Contributions were being received by local chapters in the two states.

Workmen from neighboring towns and cities moved in voluntarily to help clear tangled wreckage and set up temporary buildings.

In Blackwell, Okla., where 16 were killed and 500 injured by a tornado that immediately preceded the Udall disaster, most relief work was undertaken by that city's own citizens. It is a much larger community than Udall.

At least half a dozen tornado funnels were sighted over Kansas and Missouri Friday night but damage was slight and no injuries were immediately reported.

Four houses three miles east of Higginsville, Mo., were damaged by a funnel which moved along the ground northeast for five minutes.

A tornado also demolished a garage at Hillsdaye, Kan., 30 miles southeast of Kansas City.

Other funnels, all in the air, were reported north of Grandview, Mo., east of Independence, Mo., near Osawatomie, Kan., over Shawnee, McPherson, Kingman, Great Bend, Pratt, Hutchinson, and Stafford, Kan. Only the funnel at Stafford was seen touching the ground. (Dallas Morning News, Section Part 1, Page 3, May 28, 1955)