Tornado aftermath devastating
'66 twister caused more than $100 million in damages
10:08 p.m. Monday, May 22, 2006
"It was a huge tornado, very wide, very black, dark,” said Dodie Longstaff, a Topeka tornado survivor.
It’s an image of the ‘66 Topeka tornado that Longstaff will never forget.
It was June 8, 1966.
Just after 7 that night, Dodie got word a violent tornado was heading straight for her southwest Topeka home. With only minutes to react, she took her children downstairs.
"[I] put them in a corner, tucked everything around them, told them to try to be quiet and good because something bad was going to happen,” she said.
Topeka tornado survivor Dodie Longstaff vivdly recalls the 1966 tornado that destroyed much of downtown Topeka, causing $100 million in damages. Hear her account of what happened that night on June 8, as well as those of former Washburn professor Mike Sarkesian and survivor Carol Vogel.
And something bad did happen.
In the blink of an eye, the tornado damaged almost 3,000 buildings, many ripped right off their foundations. The tornado killed 16 people and injured hundreds more. Many compare the devastation to a war zone.
"Rubble, rubble, rubble,” said Carol Vogel, a Topeka tornado survivor. “Trees upturned, cars in trees, no grass. I don't think anything in any of the initial reports even came close to what it was actually like.”
It only took about 20 minutes for the tornado to carve a destructive path through the heart of Topeka. But in that short time, more than $100 million in damage was done. It still ranks as one of the costliest tornadoes in U.S. history.
"It's difficult to react to a tornado as big as the one we had in 1966,” said Neil Dobler, former Public Works director.
Dobler said when the tornado struck, the National Guard and volunteers from across northeast Kansas poured in to Topeka to help.
"The initial push is to get debris cleaned up,” Dobler said. “I mean you can't even get in and try to put power lines and phone lines back and in some cases, you can't even search for folks without getting the streets clear."
More on the tornado
The deadly tornado of '66 forever changed Topeka. Now 40 years later, local residents still marvel at the destruction. About 3,000 of the city's buildings were turned to rubble. See photos of the tornado's destruction at Washburn University.
From the rubble, Topeka rebuilt. Today, it's difficult to find the areas impacted by the tornado.
Longstaff considers herself lucky. She and her family escaped injury, and other than pieces of siding blowing off, her home was largely untouched. But June 8, 1966 is a day she will never forget.
"We had God on our side, that's all I can say,” she said. “Very devastating day."
Safety tips
Learn how to keep you and your family safe during the storm with safety tips for tornados, severe thunderstorms and flash flooding.
And, while Northeast Kansas is a tornado-prone area, the probability of another tornado hitting downtown Topeka is very low. The Storm Prediction Center estimates it could be a thousand years before downtown gets hit again.
Tuesday night, Blake Smith takes you to Washburn University, one of the most devastated areas from the '66 tornado. He talks with people who were on campus that day and lived through the tornado. Plus, find out how the University has recovered and prospered in the wake of the disaster.
Upcoming television special
You can see a complete look back of that storm on June 8 at 7 p.m. on our half-hour special on the 40th anniversary of the Topeka tornado called "For God's Sake, Take Cover."
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