A Simple Twist of Fate
Tornadoes always seem to spawn strange stories about displaced possessions and miraculous escapes. The South Park tornado of July 16, 1927, was no exception. The storm caught residents completely by surprise late on that Saturday afternoon. The Kansas City Star had predicted rain and mild thunderstorms, but no violent weather. Warnings delivered via radio or tornado sirens were still far in the future. The citizens of South Park went about their usual business on a rainy weekend, little suspecting the destruction to occur soon.
At a little past 5 p.m., a funnel cloud touched down a short distance southwest in the Monrovia area, where it tore the roofs from three houses. The twister then lifted, sparing Shawnee and Merriam neighborhoods, only to descend on the working class community of South Park. During five minutes on the ground, the violent winds cut a path one-half mile long and several blocks wide through the heart of the small town.
Some buildings emerged undamaged, while others nearby were reduced to splinters. At least one house tumbled down the block and came to a stop on its roof but otherwise intact. Observers of the aftermath reported seeing a full glass of milk sitting on a table amidst a pile of splintered lumber. J.F. Hamilton survived the storm only to find his garage ruined and his car 300 feet away, stuck eight feet off the ground in the remains of a tree.
The storm brought not only destruction but also death. Casualties included 12-year-old Donald Hite, Mrs. S.J. Butts, banker Roma Scott, and bricklayer Charles Ansoms. Hite and Scott were killed in the collapse of the Bird and Blackmore store. In the second-story living quarters, Grover Thomas, his wife and four children were about to sit down to a birthday dinner when the storm hit. Unlike the customers on the ground floor, the Thomas family was thrown clear of the flying debris and all survived. Nearby, M.T. Stambaugh and 10 family members lived through the destruction of his two-story grocery store building by hiding in the shelter of a large display case. Gus Chow, his wife and two children rode out the storm in their house as it was lifted from its foundation. The building landed a block away, roofless but right side up.
Perhaps the oddest story of all involved Frank McCaslin, his wife and ten-month-old son Charles. Mrs. McCaslin had just put Charles down for a nap when her husband shouted to her to head for the shelter. Before she could reach the baby, the house flew up in the air and landed upside down in a nearby field. The frantic mother leaped up and ran to what was left of the bed, to find the baby tightly rolled up in the mattress, safe and sound. Charles grew up to serve in the Army during World War II. Ironically, he was assigned to work as a weather observer.
--ALBUM vol. 16, no. 3 (summer 2003)