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                         ONE YEAR LATER.

   THE SUMNER AND SOUTH SEDGWICK COUNTY TORNADO IS REMEMBERED.



THE EVENING OF MAY 3, 1999, WILL LINGER IN MANY INDIVIDUALS MINDS

FOR A LONG TIME.  ON THIS DATE, SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED

RAPIDLY OVER SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS SPAWNED

TORNADOES OVER SUMNER, SEDGWICK, AND BUTLER COUNTIES.  SIGNIFICANT

DAMAGE OCCURRED OVER PARTS OF SOUTHERN SEDGWICK COUNTY, SPECIFICALLY

HAYSVILLE AND SOUTH WICHITA.  OVER 8,000 HOMES AND BUSINESSES WERE

DAMAGED OR DESTROYED, BUT ONLY 6 PEOPLE WERE KILLED.



THE FIRST TORNADO DEVELOPED SHORTLY AFTER 7:30 PM CDT JUST TO THE

WEST OF MAYFIELD IN SUMNER COUNTY.  THIS TORNADO WAS RATED AS AN F0

AS IT MOVED NORTH ACROSS THE COUNTY AND DISSIPATED JUST SOUTH OF

MILLERTON.  A SECOND TORNADO HAD THEN DEVELOPED NEAR THE COMMUNITY

OF RIVERDALE IN SUMNER COUNTY AND RAPIDLY MOVED NORTH, AND THE

TORNADO CROSSED OVER INTO SEDGWICK COUNTY AT 8:30 PM CDT.  THE

TORNADO ENTERED THE COMMUNITY OF HAYSVILLE ABOUT 8:38 PM CDT, A FULL

22 MINUTES AFTER THE INITIAL TORNADO WARNING THAT SPECIFICALLY

STATED A TORNADO WAS HEADED TOWARD THAT CITY!  BY THIS TIME, THE

TORNADO HAD GROWN IN STRENGTH AND RIPPED A PATH OF DESTRUCTION UP TO

A HALF MILE WIDE THROUGH PARTS OF HAYSVILLE AND SOUTH WICHITA.  THE

TORNADO WAS RATED AS AN F4 AND LEVELED 1,109 HOMES, ANOTHER 2,245

WERE DAMAGED, 2 SCHOOLS WERE DAMAGED, 72 BUSINESSES WERE DESTROYED

AND ANOTHER 36 SUSTAINED DAMAGE.  IN ALL, $140,000,000.00 IN

PROPERTY DAMAGE WAS REPORTED.  IRONICALLY THOUGH, ONLY 6 PEOPLE WERE

KILLED AND 150 INJURED.  OF THOSE, ONLY 25 RECEIVED SERIOUS

INJURIES.  THE REASON THE DEATH AND INJURY TOLL WAS SO LOW, WAS THAT

THE PUBLIC RECEIVED EXCELLENT AND TIMELY WARNINGS ON THIS EVENT.  IN

ADDITION, THEY KNEW WHAT TO DO TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.



THE LARGEST EMPLOYER IN HAYSVILLE KANSAS IS THE NORLAND PLASTICS

COMPANY, AND THE AFTERNOON SHIFT ENTAILED ABOUT 100 EMPLOYEES.  MISTER

ELMER MATZIK, WAS THE SHIFT SUPERVISOR.  HE HAD A NOAA WEATHER RADIO

AND WAS MONITORING IT THAT EVENING.  HE HEARD THE WICHITA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STAFF

TELLING LISTENERS ABOUT THE TORNADO IN NORTHERN SUMNER COUNTY AND

THAT IT WAS HEADED TO THE NORTH, THEN AT 8:16 PM CDT, THE WARNING

CAME OUT FOR SEDGWICK COUNTY AND SPECIFICALLY STATED THAT HAYSVILLE

WAS IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS TORNADO.  AT 8:20 PM CDT, MISTER

MATZIK INSTRUCTED ALL THE PERSONNEL THAT WERE WORKING AT THE PLANT

TO GO TO THEIR DESIGNATED TORNADO SHELTER.  THE TORNADO HIT

HAYSVILLE ABOUT 20 MINUTES LATER AND INFLICTED MAJOR DAMAGE ON THE

PLANT.  MISTER  MATZIK, BY LISTENING TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND HEEDING

THE ADVICE OF THE WICHITA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STAFF, SAVED THE LIVES OF THOSE WORKING

FOR HIM THAT EVENING.



AROUND 9:00 PM CDT, THE TORNADO MADE A DIRECT HIT ON THE PACE SETTER

MOBILE HOME PARK IN SOUTH WICHITA, BUT ONLY 2 WERE KILLED IN THAT

PARK.  THE OTHERS IN THE PARK, TOTAL RESIDENCES IN EXCESS OF 200,

EITHER WENT TO THE DESIGNATED SHELTER, OR HAD LEFT THE PARK AND

SOUGHT SHELTER AT THE HOMES OF FRIENDS OR FAMILIES.  THEY KNEW THE

TORNADO WAS HEADED TOWARD THEM BECAUSE WARNINGS AND FOLLOW-UP

STATEMENTS HAD BEEN TELLING THEM THIS SINCE 8:16 PM CDT.  IN

ADDITION, THEY KNEW WHAT TO DO IN THE EVENT OF A TORNADO AND SOUGHT

APPROPRIATE SHELTER.



OVER 70 TORNADOES WERE ALSO SPAWNED ACROSS OKLAHOMA.  THESE TWISTERS

WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATHS OF 45 PEOPLE, WHILE 597 WERE

INJURED.  THE TOTAL PROPERTY DAMAGE REACHED UP TO 1.2 BILLION

DOLLARS.  IT WAS THE LARGEST TORNADO OUTBREAK EVER RECORDED IN

OKLAHOMA.  THIS OUTBREAK INCLUDED THE DEADLY F5 TORNADO WHICH

RAVAGED BRIDGE CREEK, MOORE AND PARTS OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY

METROPOLITAN AREA.  THIS TORNADO WAS ALSO THE MOST COSTLY IN THE HISTORY

OF THE UNITED STATES.



EVEN WITH ALL OF THE DEVASTATION, HOMES HAVE BEEN REBUILT; PEOPLE

HAVE MOVED ON, BUT THAT TERRIBLE EVENING OF MAY 3RD, WILL REMAIN IN

OUR MEMORY FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
