1958 Tornado Victims Remembered

At 5:45 p.m. on June 10, 2020, the exact moment a tornado struck south and southwest El Dorado on that same day in 1958, tornado sirens could be heard all across town as a small gathering of members from the El Dorado Rotary Club paid tribute to the 13 lives lost.

The path of the tornado was opposite of how tornadoes had traveled and therefore called a “backwards or wrong way” tornado.

The backward, or wrong way, tornado as it was called, killed 13 people, injured over 80 others and resulted in damages of nearly $3 million.  

The annual ceremony was streamed live, this year, over the Rotary club’s Facebook page as gatherings are still limited due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  

Small gathering of El Dorado Rotary Club members, wearing masks and socially distancing, were present for the “virtual” ceremony that was streamed over Facebook.

The memorial, a project of the Rotary Club and spearheaded by Steve Pershall, was erected twelve years ago in 2008, during the 50th anniversary. 

Thirteen pillars, some with plaques, commemorate the historic event that changed the course of the neighborhood that now houses the memorial located at Graham Park, 1600 Edgemoor.

One pillar for each person whose life was lost that day.

According to John Prigmore, founder of Gravity::Works, the company that designed the memorial, “the intent was to mimic the lines of a tornado.”  It has been said that the design also represents the community whose spirit was bent but not broken.  

At its pinnacle, is a wind harp fitted with thirteen strings – one for each life lost that day. The wind harp was designed by artist Ross Barrable of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and can be heard singing when wind blows through its strings.

The memorial includes the impressive tornado shape structure with a wind harp at its top.

During the ceremony Prigmore, hit a bell as Dave Stewart read the names of each victim.

Dave Stewart, left, reads each name as John Prigmore, right, strikes the bell.

William Cantrell 

Minnie Cantrell 

William Welty 

James Kirby 

Howell Phillips 

Elanor Phillips 

John Phillips 

Bessie Diaz

Arthur Sharping

John Jenkins 

Mary Jenkins 

Roberta Daniels 

John Daniels 

Disaster Declaration Extended for Butler County

Keri Korthal, Director of Emergency Management, appeared before the Board of Butler County Commissioners on Tuesday, May 28th to request an extension of the Disaster Declaration due to the fact that Butler County experienced another round of heavy rainfall and stormy weather.

Photo by Chad Wittenberg

The state has established the dates of April 28 and ongoing, at this time, to ensure everything possible is included before they go forward with a Presidential Declaration. There is already an estimated $2 million in damages from the first wave of storms.

The Commission voted to approve the extension for another seven (7) days.

With the announcement that President Trump approved Governor Kelly’s request for a disaster declaration, Director Keri Korthals and the Emergency Management team is starting to field questions about what that means for Butler County, and unfortunately, the information that’s out there is a little sparse at the moment; other than the message that Butler County is included.  So, Korthals shares with us what it means. “Does it indicate that FEMA funds will begin flowing into our county to repair roads and rebuild houses? Well, no, not exactly.”

Photo by Chad Wittenberg

According to Korthals, “There are actually two types of declarations that our Governor can request for our state’s current situation: an Emergency Declaration (the one Kansas received) and a Major Disaster Declaration (the one that’s often referred to as a ‘Presidential Disaster Declaration’).”

“An Emergency Declaration,” states Korthals, “provides federal money for those immediate life/health/public safety activities that jurisdictions have been (and are still) conducting: sandbagging, performing water rescues or search and rescue, barricading roads, opening emergency shelters, clearing hazardous debris. It won’t do anything that’s considered a longer-term fix, i.e. rebuilding a road or repairing a flood damaged building.”

Additionally, “The Kansas Division of Emergency Management (KDEM) has been meeting with all of the counties that have been impacted by this month’s storms and flooding, and they’re collecting the facts and figures that would support a Major Disaster Declaration.  They have already visited Butler County and gotten our information, but last we heard, they were still working their way through their massive list of locally-declared counties. When all their information has been compiled, then Governor Kelly can make a decision on requesting a Major Disaster Declaration.”

Korthals advises, “Be aware that these declarations sometimes only provide for road/bridge/building/infrastructure help for governments, like cities and townships, not private citizens. Definitely check the fine print.”

Learn more about FEMA disaster declarations.