Tornado Stories
Collection: Tornado Stories
Title
Tornado Stories
Scroll down to view the document; press Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac) to search within the PDF file.
Subject
Tornadoes--Hesston (Kan.)
Description
Account transcribed from audio-cassette recording.
Creator
Hugie, Nancy
Hugie, Josie
Good, Lowell
Good, Lena
Publisher
Hesston Public Library
Date
6/1/1990
Rights
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Narratives
Transcriptions
Identifier
TornadoStories_Hugie.pdf
Citation
Hugie, Nancy et al., “Tornado Stories,” Hesston Public Library, accessed December 3, 2024, https://hesston.digitalsckls.info/item/118.
Text
TORNADO STORIES
transcribed from recording on audio-cassette June, 1990
I. Nancy Hugie and Josie Hugie
This is Nancy Hugie, and I live with my two girls and my husband at 604 W. Knott. When we saw the tornado coming we kept wishing and thinking it was going to go away and not get us. And my husband went out with the video camera and took pictures... and took pictures, and I asked him "Will you please come to the basement on time?"
And after the storm, I was so scared my husband had trouble getting me out of the basement. I thought the storm was waiting to just come and get us, again. And the hardest part after the storm was when my three-year-old looked at me and says, "Mommy, can we go home now?", and I had to tell her there was no home to go to.
Losing possessions was tough, but we were so grateful that no one's lives were lost. And I spent several months thinking only that, and feeling sorry for those who did get injured, or lost a family member. And now as we try and replace some of our household goods, it gets harder and harder to face things, and the little mementos, and photos and things which are irreplaceable. We miss those.
And my daughter Josie, who is now nine, would like to say something.
Josie: "I miss my... my pet monster."
The first thing we did, getting up out of our hole in the basement... (we were left with no flooring above our heads, just blue skies. It even took things out of the basement)...the first thing we did was start looking around and checking to see if neighbors and friends were okay. Everyone greeted each other. And as said before, it looked like little gophers popping out of holes, but we were awful glad to see that everyone was alive.
In the month past the storm we went through lots of different emotions. But it took a while before the anger and the bitterness hit. The fright was still too close and we were still too glad to be alive.
II. Lowell Good
I'm Lowell Good on West Knott Street, and we were hit first and probably in the middle of the tornado. And it sounded like a big freight train coming through town, and we watched it 'til it took the highline poles and flashed a lot of electricity on both sides of the tornado west of the house.
And then I waited 'til it got close, and went downstairs, and first thing it did was toppled the fireplace in the floor and broke up the floor, and then the floor raised up over our heads, and put a big hole where we were standing, and then when we were underneath the tornado, it sounded more like a truckload of rocks being dumped, and a grinding sound of wood and sheetrock.
And then when we looked around, I got on a desk and looked around outside after the tornado. I looked around, standing on a desk and looked out of the basement. And it looked like the Newton landfill. It just looked terrible, and looked around for people, and seen a few coming out of places. And then I helped my wife over the basement wall, and my sister-in-law, and then I was interviewed by Channel 12. They came up right after the storm, and they were following it. And then we run down the street to see if my son Robert and his family were okay. They live in a shallow basement, and then I thought maybe that they couldn't survive it. And so that's my experience with the tornado.
III. Lena Good
I'm Lena Good, and I lived at 602 Nest Knott. The afternoon of the tornado I heard the warnings on TV, so I went out and looked once earlier in the afternoon and I just saw one that looked like it might be a tornado, but it went back up, and then we went back in the house. I went back.
Before long my sister came from Greensburg. And we were sitting there talking, and then they were giving all kinds of warnings.
And I was preparing supper. So when supper was ready, I said, "Nell, before we sit down to eat, I'm going to look at the clouds."
I went to the front door and looked southwest. And I couldn't believe what I saw... the dark...clouds that were so wide. It just put fear in my heart. And I looked for a while and called the others to come see.
And then I said "Nell, Lord, you're bigger than that storm. You take care of us." And He certainly did.
I said, "Here it comes. Let's go to the basement.” And so my sister and I went to the basement and Lowell wanted to watch it a little bit longer. And so pretty soon here he came downstairs, and I heard the wind. I said, "I hear the wind. It's coming."
And we were right in the middle, and it took all the floor (about 3/4 of the floor), ripped all that up, and so we saw the blue sky.
And we stood there just a minute, wondering if there would be wind afterwards, but it was calm, and finally I said...uh, Lowell looked out, and I said, "Nell, let me out of here. I want out of here right now."
I had on my mind to go check if people were alive. And so we got out, and I run down the street to see if our son, and his wife, and child were okay.
And I looked around and the neighbors were all around. So we knew that we had been saved from tragedy. It is a miracle of God that out of fifty homes there were...completely demolished... there were no deaths. And the thing that I marvelled at about our's, was that it took the refrigerator, deepfreeze and everything, all my kitchen utensils and dishes galore, and living room furniture and all... (Ne have never seen one piece of that)... that we were in the middle, and I guess it just sucked it up. We didn't even have broken glass around our place.
Four cars and one pickup were completely demolished at our place. We will never want to go through this experience again.
Original Format
typed document
Title
Tornado Stories
Scroll down to view the document; press Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac) to search within the PDF file.
Subject
Tornadoes--Hesston (Kan.)
Description
Account transcribed from audio-cassette recording.
Creator
Hugie, Nancy
Hugie, Josie
Good, Lowell
Good, Lena
Publisher
Hesston Public Library
Date
6/1/1990
Rights
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Narratives
Transcriptions
Identifier
TornadoStories_Hugie.pdf
Citation
Hugie, Nancy et al., “Tornado Stories,” Hesston Public Library, accessed December 3, 2024, https://hesston.digitalsckls.info/item/118.Text
TORNADO STORIES
transcribed from recording on audio-cassette June, 1990
I. Nancy Hugie and Josie Hugie
This is Nancy Hugie, and I live with my two girls and my husband at 604 W. Knott. When we saw the tornado coming we kept wishing and thinking it was going to go away and not get us. And my husband went out with the video camera and took pictures... and took pictures, and I asked him "Will you please come to the basement on time?"
And after the storm, I was so scared my husband had trouble getting me out of the basement. I thought the storm was waiting to just come and get us, again. And the hardest part after the storm was when my three-year-old looked at me and says, "Mommy, can we go home now?", and I had to tell her there was no home to go to.
Losing possessions was tough, but we were so grateful that no one's lives were lost. And I spent several months thinking only that, and feeling sorry for those who did get injured, or lost a family member. And now as we try and replace some of our household goods, it gets harder and harder to face things, and the little mementos, and photos and things which are irreplaceable. We miss those.
And my daughter Josie, who is now nine, would like to say something.
Josie: "I miss my... my pet monster."
The first thing we did, getting up out of our hole in the basement... (we were left with no flooring above our heads, just blue skies. It even took things out of the basement)...the first thing we did was start looking around and checking to see if neighbors and friends were okay. Everyone greeted each other. And as said before, it looked like little gophers popping out of holes, but we were awful glad to see that everyone was alive.
In the month past the storm we went through lots of different emotions. But it took a while before the anger and the bitterness hit. The fright was still too close and we were still too glad to be alive.
II. Lowell Good
I'm Lowell Good on West Knott Street, and we were hit first and probably in the middle of the tornado. And it sounded like a big freight train coming through town, and we watched it 'til it took the highline poles and flashed a lot of electricity on both sides of the tornado west of the house.
And then I waited 'til it got close, and went downstairs, and first thing it did was toppled the fireplace in the floor and broke up the floor, and then the floor raised up over our heads, and put a big hole where we were standing, and then when we were underneath the tornado, it sounded more like a truckload of rocks being dumped, and a grinding sound of wood and sheetrock.
And then when we looked around, I got on a desk and looked around outside after the tornado. I looked around, standing on a desk and looked out of the basement. And it looked like the Newton landfill. It just looked terrible, and looked around for people, and seen a few coming out of places. And then I helped my wife over the basement wall, and my sister-in-law, and then I was interviewed by Channel 12. They came up right after the storm, and they were following it. And then we run down the street to see if my son Robert and his family were okay. They live in a shallow basement, and then I thought maybe that they couldn't survive it. And so that's my experience with the tornado.
III. Lena Good
I'm Lena Good, and I lived at 602 Nest Knott. The afternoon of the tornado I heard the warnings on TV, so I went out and looked once earlier in the afternoon and I just saw one that looked like it might be a tornado, but it went back up, and then we went back in the house. I went back.
Before long my sister came from Greensburg. And we were sitting there talking, and then they were giving all kinds of warnings.
And I was preparing supper. So when supper was ready, I said, "Nell, before we sit down to eat, I'm going to look at the clouds."
I went to the front door and looked southwest. And I couldn't believe what I saw... the dark...clouds that were so wide. It just put fear in my heart. And I looked for a while and called the others to come see.
And then I said "Nell, Lord, you're bigger than that storm. You take care of us." And He certainly did.
I said, "Here it comes. Let's go to the basement.” And so my sister and I went to the basement and Lowell wanted to watch it a little bit longer. And so pretty soon here he came downstairs, and I heard the wind. I said, "I hear the wind. It's coming."
And we were right in the middle, and it took all the floor (about 3/4 of the floor), ripped all that up, and so we saw the blue sky.
And we stood there just a minute, wondering if there would be wind afterwards, but it was calm, and finally I said...uh, Lowell looked out, and I said, "Nell, let me out of here. I want out of here right now."
I had on my mind to go check if people were alive. And so we got out, and I run down the street to see if our son, and his wife, and child were okay.
And I looked around and the neighbors were all around. So we knew that we had been saved from tragedy. It is a miracle of God that out of fifty homes there were...completely demolished... there were no deaths. And the thing that I marvelled at about our's, was that it took the refrigerator, deepfreeze and everything, all my kitchen utensils and dishes galore, and living room furniture and all... (Ne have never seen one piece of that)... that we were in the middle, and I guess it just sucked it up. We didn't even have broken glass around our place.
Four cars and one pickup were completely demolished at our place. We will never want to go through this experience again.
Original Format
typed document
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