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[Marcia Moore]

Removed.

[hhjacobs]

You might ask Esther Jordan, Leroy Jordan's mom. I know she went to the hospital to be with Olga that night. She might have the information you want

[Wilma]

I have the book "Kansas Storms 1991" and could maybe scan the pages of the Elk County storm.  I think newspaper clippings would be better information.  If nobody can come up with clippings, I will try to figure out a way to scan the book.

[Janet Harrington]

I have them, tucked away somewhere.  It was a huge article in the paper.  However; I really don't know where they are.  Sorry.

[Marcia Moore]

Removed.

[genealogynut]

I wouldn't call this the "Good Old Days" but I don't know of another board that would be appropriate for this occasion.

Independence Reporter
April 27, 1991

HOWARD-- A 78-year old rural Howard woman was killed Friday night when a tornado demolished her trailer home about nine miles northwest of Howard, officials said.  Two other persons, including the victim's husband, were seriously injured.

The tornado which cut a half-mile swath through Elk County destroyed three homes, including an entire farmstead, and caused between $300, 000 and $400,000 in damage, based on estimates provided by officials and family members.

The body of Lucille Jacobs was discovered lodged in a tree row about 150 yards from her home, the last house destroyed by the storm, neighbors said.

Her husband, Richard jacobs, 77, and Olga Jenkins, 89, were seriously injured in the storm, the Elk County Sheriff;s officers said.  Both were transported by Elk County ambulance to Greenwood County Hospital, and later transferred to St. Francis Hospital in Wichita. Jenkins was reported to be in serious condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The storm also ripped through Copan, Okla., killing one woman, injuring several others and destroying two businesses. 

Cars in Copan were rolled up like little balls said Bartlesville shift Fire Chief Larry Topping.

Nada Packard, Copan, was killed and 10 other people, including two Caney residents, were injured.

Bill Mingle, a spokesman for Jane Phillips Medical Center in Bartlesville, Okla., said Robert Ward, 70, Copan, Okla., was in critical conidition when transferred to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, and Gene Norman, 41, of Oologah, Okla., was also transferred to St Francis in critical condition.

Residents of Cany who were injured were Karen Rollins, 47, and Kendra Rawlins, 28.  Both were in fair condition, Mingle said Saturday.

Other storm victims taken to Jane Phillips were Shirley Snyder, 52, crictical condition, Rhonda Livingston, 22, critical condition; John Livingston, 23, fair condition; Ann Ward, 65, fair condition, John Watt, 25, treated and released; and Shelby Rawlins, 5, who was treated and released.  All are residents of Copan, Mingle said.

Except for a few downed trees, minor flooding and flickering power outages, most residents in Montgomery, Wilson, and Chautauqua counties escaped unharmed as tornado and storm warnings were issued throughout the night.

The tornado which touched down near Howard wreaked havoc on the countryside, overturning cars, pulverizing farm machinery, and ripping apart buildings.

We saw it forming.  It was just growing, clouds were going, and it just started whipping around, said Dorothy Preston, who lives a mile east of the Jenkins' residence.

Preston said Jenkins was standing on her back porch trying to decide whether to seek shelter in her celllar, when it became very quiet and she decided the storm was over.  Then the tornado struck.

"It blew her about 40 feet to the front porch," Preston said. pointing to the area when she and her husband found Jenkins lying near an ironing board, partially pinned by debris.

Aline McKenzie, or rural Howard, who sought shelter in her basement, never saw the funnel cloud but when she opened the basement door, she found her house had been lifted off its foundation and blown about 20 to 30 feet in a northeast direction.

"It's just completely gone," she said Saturday as she and her husband surveyed the destruction, which destroyed two barns and several feeders.

Her husband, Bill McKenzie, was at work at Boeing Aircraft when the storm hit and she was alone.

"It was scary for a few seconds and then shooosh," she said the  howling wind was gone.

She said she and her husband had insurance to help cover their losses and they planned to either stay in a motel or in a rented camper on the property while they clean up and make repairs, which may take several weeks.

The tornado struck their home at about 8:30 p.m. and then passed over the Jenkins residence about two miles northeast of the McKenzie farm, an Elk county sheriff's spokesman said.

The tornado then went back into the clouds and came down again on the Jacobs' farmstead, wiping out the entire operation.

Betty Brink, or rural Howard, said the Jacobses had returned from the Howard Senior Citizens Center and were home only about 10 minutes when the tornado struck.

Jacobs reportedly was on the back porch, watching the storm when the wind uprooted a wash sink and knocked him free of the trailer home, officials said.

His wife was sitting in a chair in the southeast corner of the home when the tornado struck, Brink said.

Although the sheriff's department could not speculate on the force of the winds, the tornado was powerful enough to hurl the Jacobs' van more than 100 yards into a hedge row, leaving it a piece of mangled metal.

Farm machinery, an old trailer home and a small house wre also destroyed.  Family members estimated damage to the farmstead at about $200,000.

[Marcia Moore]

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[Janet Harrington]

You know, I was sheriff when Mrs. Jacobs died and after reading that article from the Independence Reporter, I saw a few discripencies.  Mrs. Jacobs was not lodged in a tree row.  She was found northwest of where the trailer house used to be in the mud, but not in a tree row.  Mr. Jacobs was standing at the door watching the storm and however he was thrown, he ended up in the basement that was under the trailer.  That's what saved his life.

Ogla Jenkins told me that she went to a closet under the stairs when she saw the tornado.  She didn't have much time.  She had fishing line wrapped all around her and she said the fishing poles were in that closet.

That was such a horrible evening.  When a tornado goes through an area, the tornado changes the atmospheric conditions and we did not have radio communication.  The dispatcher could here us, but we could not hear them.  We called for ambulances and never knew that ambulances were coming until they showed up.  It was frightening.

After we got Ogla loaded up and headed for Eureka, I was able to get to the Jacobs place.  By the time I got out, Richard was loaded into the ambulance.  I opened the door and Richard was covered, completely covered, with mud.  All I could see was his eyes and his appearance reminded me of the coal miners after they come out of a coal mine.

That tornado is something I will never forget.

[Wilma]

Would you like for me to scan what I have in the book "Kansas Storms, 1991" and have Janet post it for you.  You could even borrow the book if you want.

[Marcia Moore]

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