Some called it a downspout. Others say it was just extremely high winds, but many Lakin residents swore the town was hit by a tornado on June 4, 1983. Although the “official report” was that there had been no tornado sightings, several people, including public service employees, stated that they had definitely seen twisters.
Doug Stebens, City of Lakin’s light superintendent, said that he had seen three funnels and from his observation of the way the damage was done in various parts of the city, he was convinced it was tornadic winds. He noted that in some places it was obvious that the wind had been from all different directions which indicated whirling motion.
After hearing about the extensive damage that was done, Mike Ryva, weather service specialist with the National Weather Service in Dodge City, said the damage sounded more like what could be expected from a tornado. “You can often tell from the debris whether it was a tornado or just high winds. In a tornado, debris will be tossed in many directions, not just one,” Ryva said.
After inspecting the damage first-hand, Col. Mahlon Weed, director of the State Division of Emergency Preparedness, said, “I really think it was a downspout because there was no pattern to the destruction. It was spotty. There was no wide sweep in one area in town such as you see in a tornado’s path. A downspout comes down and puts out little fingers of wind reaching in all directions. I really think that is what it was.” However, Weed admitted that he had changed his mind three different times.
Many homes were damaged, and one couple’s mobile home was overturned. According to the Hutchinson News, about five mobile homes were deemed “unlivable” after the storm tore through. The rear wall of the Insurance Agency at Lincoln and Main was sucked out. Many buildings about town received damage to their roofs, with the entire roof being torn off of an unoccupied house on O’Loughlin Street. When the roof blew off the Lakin Auto parts store, it sailed through the air and hit the Tampa & Edward home of Marvin Swank, making a hole “big enough to drive a small automobile through.” Windows were broken all over town. Thirty windows were blown out of the nearly-completed High Plains Retirement Village. One resident on south Hamilton Street said he felt his home “lift up and sit back down.”
Power-line poles were left leaning, power was knocked out to almost all of Lakin, and trees uprooted and toppled. Nearly all the lawns and streets were left cluttered by leaves, shingles and other debris. Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Lary Cole was driving south on Main Street when his back window was sucked out. The June 9, 1983, Lakin Independent reported that Mayor Gene Hornbaker and City Administrator John Speer placed storm-related damages in the neighborhood of $1.5 million. Hornbaker said at least 80 percent of the homes in town had some damage.
The severe weather started about 6:30 p.m. when a tornado was confirmed on the ground 15 miles north of Lakin. It was on the ground for about five minutes and then dissipated. Lakin and Kearny County were under a tornado watch but never under a tornado warning, according to Sheriff Jim Jarboe. By 7:20 p.m. the storm seemed to be letting up. The Sheriff’s department kept in contact with Muddy Roads project director and meteorologist English Hammond who recorded a peak wind gust of 60 mph at the airport. At 7:22, weather spotters reported high winds moving toward Lakin, low-hanging clouds, and a wall of dust moving in.
Tornado-warning sirens then sounded, and the courthouse was opened so people could take shelter. At approximately 7:30, Larry and Grace Skipton’s mobile home was flipped upside down with them inside. “We never heard a siren, just the wind,” Larry said. “One minute it was upright, then it was upside down.” Larry suffered cuts to his face, shoulder and hand from items flying around inside his home. Fortunately, no other serious injuries were reported in town.
Most of Lakin’s power was restored by early Sunday morning, and crews from Pioneer Electric came from Ulysses with four bucket trucks, two pickups and a tree shredder to assist City crews in their efforts. Hamilton County sent deputies in to help patrol traffic and prevent looting. The American Red Cross from Garden City set up in the Veterans Memorial Building on Sunday and Monday to assist and feed volunteers who were helping with clean-up efforts, and even with part of its building missing, the Insurance Agency was opened all day on Sunday to receive property damage claims.
Agency spokesperson Jane Vanover told a reporter that she received 32 claims Sunday morning alone and the phone rang constantly on Monday. “I think actually we were very lucky here in Lakin. No one was killed or hurt too much. I was looking out my window at the storm, and I saw roofs flying off mobile homes across the street. Insulation and tin were everywhere, and a lot of windows were broken out of cars.”
SOURCES: Archives of The Lakin Independent, Garden City Telegram and Hutchinson News. Photos, except where otherwise noted, were taken by Shirley Henderson and Vivian Fletcher Fankhouser.