Historic Events 1980-2000 - Sedgwick County, Kansas Emergency Management

Sedgwick County > Emergency Management > Historic Events > 1980-2000

Historic Events - 1980 to 2000

April 1980 – The 21st Street riot began in the vicinity of Jabara Brothers grocery store and Dairy Queen along the 21st Street corridor between Grove and Hillside with racial tensions building between the minority community and the police department erupting in violence. The following is an eyewitness account of the situation:

“I remember this riot happening between the Jabara Brothers grocery store and the Dairy Queen which pretty much started in front of a laundry mat. I saw a police officer chasing an individual by the name of Kalin or Kalan up one of the residential streets towards the area of the laundry mat but behind the Dairy Queen when myself and two other friends had arrived to the laundry mat area where we saw the officers had trapped the suspect and appeared to have tussled while apprehending him and possible pushed him through the front laundry mat window. As people in shock seeing what was taken place began took crowd around to get a closer look at what was happening. Another young man appeared running up to the officers in protest which seemed to me to be the suspects brother was shot point blank in the forehead which drew the crowd into a frenzy. Moments later more police cars began to come along with an ambulance in which they put the man that was shot by the officers inside because he appeared to be alive although we was shaking like he was having convulsions and they drove off. More and more people where crowding around yelling, screaming in protest of what was taking place right before their eyes. As the officers were trying to keep the in control and making their way out from among the hostel crowd more police cars were coming in and people began to though objects at the cars and the intense action began to drift down the street towards the Jabara Brothers store where I could see at least two police cars being attacked with one turned over and set on fire. I then remember seeing and helicopters come in and drop tear gas in the crowds that were down the street. I don't remember too much else as I was told to get home by a few adults who knew how bad and unsafe to situation was. I do remember seeing and picking up one the tear gas canisters the following day.”

July 8, 1980 – The Ralston Purina feed mill in Wichita experienced a dust explosion causing two injuries.

November 8, 1980 – Wichita Police Officer Paul Garofalo was on patrol when he stopped to question two women in the 1000 block of East 9th Street North. As he stopped his car, a man emerged and approached his car on the driver's side. The man fired a shotgun through the car window and killed Officer Garofalo instantly.

May 8, 1981, 1500 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 17 yards touched down briefly and with no reported property damages.

June 15, 1981 - On the afternoon of June 14, 1981, a series of intense thunderstorms along the forward edge of a stalled cold front produced 5 to 20 inches of precipitation in about 12 hours near Great Bend. The storm affected about 350 square miles of tributaries to the Arkansas River upstream from Great Bend. The most extensive flooding occurred along Walnut and Dry Walnut Creeks in southwestern Barton County. Significant urban flooding was limited to the communities of Pawnee Rock and Great Bend. An estimated 3,000 people were evacuated by boat, truck, or helicopter in Great Bend. Two-thirds of the city remained under about 4 feet of water on June 16. The Arkansas River south of Great Bend was 1 to 2 miles wide in places, and Walnut Creek had swollen to 2 miles wide. The resulting runoff produced peak discharges on Dry Walnut Creek on June 15 that were 1.5 to 3 times the discharge having a 100-year recurrence interval and caused about $42 million in damages. The storm was so localized that gauging stations around its perimeter recorded only nominal discharge, generally having a recurrence interval less than 2 years.

June 29, 1981, 1332 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 17 yards touched down briefly and with no reported property damages.

January 5, 1982 – Wichita Police Officer Danny Laffey was investigating a disturbance call at the Zanzibar Club in the 3100 block of East 13th Street North. He had stopped a suspect vehicle in the street and was in the process of removing the occupants when a passing vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed and having defective brakes jumped the curb, struck and killed Officer Laffey.

May 14, 1982, 1230 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 17 yards touched down briefly and resulted in approximately $250,000 in property damages.

April 29, 1984 – An outbreak of seven tornadoes of F2 intensity occurred on the east side of Wichita and traveled NE for two miles striking Eastgate Shopping Center and causing extensive damage to the businesses, a K-Mart store, and destroying mobile homes. Reports also indicated that at least 20 funnels were seen during the event. A breakdown of the tornado events are shown below:

1038 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 10 yards touched down briefly and with no reported property damages.
1038 CST – Another F0 tornado with a width of 10 yards touched down briefly and with no reported property damages.
1040 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 33 yards touched down briefly and resulted in approximately $300 in property damages.
1050 CST – Another F0 tornado with a width of 33 yards touched down briefly and resulted in approximately $300 in property damages.
1058 CST – Another F0 tornado with a width of 33 yards touched down briefly and resulted in approximately $2,500 in property damages.
1100 CST – Another F1 tornado with a width of 20 yards tracked for one mile and resulted in approximately $25,000 in property damages.
1105 CST – Another F0 tornado with a width of 33 yards touched down briefly and resulted in approximately $300 in property damages.
1105 CST – Another F1 tornado with a width of 33 yards touched down briefly and resulted in approximately $25,000 in property damages.
1110 CST – Another F2 tornado with a width of 20 yards tracked for two miles and resulted in approximately $250,000 in property damages.
1425 CST – Another F0 tornado with a width of 33 yards touched down briefly with no reported property damages.
1440 CST – Another F1 tornado with a width of 10 yards tracked for ten miles and resulted in approximately $25,000 in property damages.

June 22, 1984, 1445 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 50 yards tracked for one mile with no reported property damages.

June 22, 1984, 1455 CST – Another F0 tornado briefly touched down with no reported property damages.

September 12, 1985 – Stationary thunderstorms produced 10 inches of rain near Garden Plain Kansas. Reports of 7 to 9 inches were common across the area.

January 6, 1986 – Ralston Purina grain elevator in Wichita exploded with moderate damage (between $50,000 and $500,000) caused by airborne grain dust injuring four workers and no deaths.

August 25, 1986 – Garvey Elevator Inc (terminal elevator) in Wichita exploded with minor damage (less than $50,000) caused by airborne grain dust with no deaths or injuries.

July 5, 1987, 0520 CST – An F1 tornado with a width of 200 yards tracked for two miles and resulted in approximately $250,000 in property damages and two injuries.

February 3, 1988 – Sedgwick County Sheriff Detective Terry Wayne McNett was shot and killed while participating in the execution of a search warrant in Wichita, Kansas. He was assigned to a Drug Enforcement Administration task force at the time of his death. Detective McNett was survived by his wife, daughter and son.

May 2, 1988, 1920 CST – An F1 tornado with a width of 30 yards tracked for seven miles and resulted in approximately $25,000 in property damages and two injuries.

December 31, 1988 – Wichita Firefighter Claud C. Killingsworth lost his life when he was trapped inside a house fire at 3749 N. Meridian Avenue.

September 5, 1989: Thunderstorms produced 6 to 10 inches of rain in south-central Kansas between 6 AM and Noon. Serious flooding was reported around Wichita, with water 4 feet deep along some roads.

June 19, 1990, 2355 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 100 yards tracked for one mile and resulted in no property damage.

September 6, 1990 – Sedgwick County Firefighter Todd David Colton died of heat exhaustion while fighting a 75-acre brush and grass fire near Mulvane in September 1990.

March 26, 1991, 1950 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 73 yards tracked for two miles and resulted in no property damage.

April 10, 1991 – The Cereal Food Processors flour mill in Wichita was moderately damaged ($50,000 to $500,000) by a dust explosion with no injuries or fatalities.

April 26, 1991 – Originating from a strong storm system causing numerous tornado outbreaks in Oklahoma, a supercell in south-central Kansas spawned several tornadoes. The first two touchdowns were NE of Anthony (F0) and NW of Argonia (F0). The third and strongest tornado started as an F1 tornado five miles south of Clearwater and quickly became a multi vortex tornado within 1.5 miles of touchdown. The tornado tracked NE for 45 miles striking the northern part of Haysville (F2-F3), continuing through McConnell Air Force Base (F3) and Andover (F5), before lifting north of El Dorado (F1). Damages were extensive as 233 of 241 Golden Spur Mobile Home Park homes in Andover were destroyed in addition to 84 frame homes and 14 businesses. Four people were killed in Sedgwick County in a housing development east of Wichita, and 13 people died in Butler County at the Golden Spur Mobile Home Park in Andover. Over 200 people were injured from this single tornadic event. The fourth tornado (F2) spawned by the same supercell touched down at the NE end of El Dorado Lake and moved parallel to the Kansas turnpike. In all, 21 tornadoes struck Kansas that day, with 55 tornadoes occurring nationwide. A breakdown of the tornado events are shown below:

1647 CST – An F1 tornado with a width of 50 yards tracked for two miles and resulted in approximately $25,000 in property damages.
1657 CST – An F5 tornado with a width of 440 yards tracked for 24 miles and resulted in approximately $250 million in property damages with four fatalities and 75 injuries reported.
1710 CST – An F1 tornado with a width of 50 yards tracked for 11 miles and resulted in approximately $25,000 in property damages.
1933 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 50 yards tracked for 1 mile and resulted in approximately $2,500 in property damages.

Deputy Sheriff Christopher C. Willems May 12, 1991 – Sedgwick County Sheriff Deputy Christopher C. Willems was shot and killed while conducting a traffic stop. While questioning the three occupants he grew suspicious of one of them. The man, who had an outstanding warrant, had given Deputy Willems his brother's name. Deputy Willems was granted permission to search the van and he located a small amount of marijuana. As he placed the suspect under arrest a struggle ensued. During the struggle one of the other men grabbed a .357 caliber revolver from the van and shot Deputy Willems in the leg and then in the head, killing him. The suspect who had struggled with Deputy Willems and the one who shot him were both convicted of his murder and sent to prison. The third suspect, who had run from the scene prior to the shooting, was not charged. Deputy Willems had served with the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department for 7.5 years. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

May 16, 1991, 1625 CST – Starting two miles east of Clearwater and proceeding northeast to within nine miles southeast of Wichita along a similar tracking of the April 26th tornado, this F3 tornado with a width of 200 yards tracked 20 miles and caused about $2.5 million in property damages including 20 homes.

July 15-August 26, 1991 – Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion organization that tries to shut down clinics and persuade women not to go through with abortions, arrived in Wichita on July 15 to stage a six-day “Summer of Mercy” blockade of Women's Health Care Services and Wichita Family Planning. Two sides of the abortion issue converged on downtown Wichita Sunday, as about 3,000 people nearly evenly divided between two separate rallies expressed widely divergent points of view with signs, slogans and songs. The eighth day of the national Operation Rescue anti-abortion demonstrations turned volatile Monday as Wichita police on horseback and others on foot tried to clear a path through protesters so two women could enter a local abortion clinic. The City of Wichita lost between $121,000 and $132,000 in traffic ticket revenue because Wichita police officers had been diverted to monitor Operation Rescue. The lost revenue was in addition to $250,000 that the city estimated it had spent on the police personnel and equipment used to monitor the protests by abortion opponents. Over 2,700 arrests were made during the six-week (46-day) demonstration. Statistically, 143 people were robbed, 928 burglaries were reported, and 347 people reported their cars stolen during the month of July, the highest monthly crime total ever. The summer's abortion protests cost the City of Wichita an estimated $800,000.

June 19, 1992, 0400 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 20 yards briefly touched down with no reported property damage.

June 19, 1992, 1105 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 30 yards briefly touched down with only $300 in reported property damage.

September 5, 1992, 1759 CST – An F2 tornado with a width of 200 yards tracked for three miles and resulted in approximately $25 million in property damages and one injury.

September 5, 1992, 1918 CST – An F1 tornado with a width of 100 yards tracked for six miles and resulted in approximately $2,500 in property damages.

September 5, 1992, 1930 CST – An F1 tornado with a width of 100 yards tracked for four miles and resulted in approximately $2.5 million in property damages.

May–September 1993 – Excessive precipitation fell across south-central and southeastern Kansas from May–September 1993 with more than the annual average falling during the 5-month period. May thunderstorms produced substantial precipitation that caused flooding in the lower Arkansas River Basin and its tributaries. USGS streamflow-gauging stations on the Ninnescah River near Peck and the Arkansas River at Arkansas City had notable maximum discharges. During the latter part of July, maximum peak discharges for the period of record were recorded at 10 streamflow gauging stations, including Pawnee River near Burdett, Walnut Creek near Rush Center, Rattlesnake Creek near Zenith, Arkansas River near Maize, and the Arkansas River at Derby. Damage in the area was estimated at $6.5 million with two lives lost. Two hundred fifty-four houses were damaged, several thousand head of livestock were lost, more than 120,000 acres of crops were damaged, and nearly $1 million worth of farm machinery was destroyed. A Presidential Declaration (FEMA-1000-DR-KS) was declared in 1993 for 57 Kansas counties to include Sedgwick County. A total of 108 individual assistance applications were submitted for this flood event that primarily affected the town of Sedgwick and near the City of Mulvane.

July 31, 1994, 1620 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 20 yards briefly touched down from a thunderstorm 15 miles SW of Wichita with no reported property damage.

May 22, 1995, 1805 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 20 yards briefly touched down two miles north of Bentley on Sedgwick and Harvey County lines with no reported property damage.

Deputy Sheriff Kevin S. Easter January 8, 1996 – Sedgwick County Sheriff Deputy Kevin S. Easter was shot and killed during a vehicle stop where the driver had initially refused to yield. Wichita police officers backing up Deputy Easter found all the juveniles next to the car with one of them suffering a bullet wound in the leg. All of the juveniles were arrested and a search for Deputy Easter was commenced. Deputy Easter was found suffering from a gunshot wound and later died during surgery. Deputy Easter had served with the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department for 2 years. The shooter was 14 years old and sentenced to 55 years in prison.

Sergeant Kenneth Eugene Snider April 18, 1997 – Sedgwick County Sheriff Sergeant Kenneth Eugene Snider was killed after being stabbed at a domestic disturbance. Sergeant Snider and three other deputies had responded to the call and were assessing what was happening when the suspect ran through the house. All the deputies followed and a struggle ensued by the back door. Within a matter of seconds the suspect pulled a knife and stabbed Sergeant Snider in the back, severing a major artery. He attempted to stab the other deputies but was subdued. Sergeant Snider was pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital. The suspect had a history of mental illness and was well known to police. He had been arrested in the past for battery on a law enforcement officer and was on parole at the time of the attack. In August 1998, the suspect died during a struggle with detention deputies at the Sedgwick County Detention Facility while incarcerated during his trial. Deputy Snider had served with the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department for 20 years.

June 8, 1998 – The DeBruce Grain elevator, located four miles southwest of Wichita, exploded at 9:20AM from ignition of airborne grain dust. Reported in “Guinness Book of Records” as the world's largest grain elevator, the elevator had a storage capacity was 20.7 million bushels. Seven workers were killed and ten injured when a series of explosions, utilizing a crossover tunnel, were propagated both directions in the two tunnels reaching the headhouse and caused a blast and fire upward through the headhouse. The blast wave and fire also moved out from the headhouse and continued while also diverting downward through empty silos and blew off many silo tops. The most severely injured had to be lifted from the top of 120' silos where they had either managed to escape on their own or where they had been assisted by rescue crews. A local company immediately sent its large crane to assist in lifting victims from the top of the elevator silos. A US Army helicopter flew 120 miles from Fort Riley, Kansas to the scene to lift an injured worker from the elevator gallery roof. After about four hours, all survivors within the elevator had been lifted by either crane or helicopter. Search operations for victims of the explosion ended on June 14th. In addition to a 64-member task force is working in three shifts over a 24-hour period, they were supported by a 21-member support team at the site and a disaster field office in nearby Wichita Members of FEMA’S Urban Search & Rescue Task Force One-Nebraska also assisted in the search for victims. An emergency declaration (FEMA-3126-EM) was issued for Sedgwick County on June 9, 1998 was later amended to include Harvey County for eligibility of federal disaster aid under the Public Assistance program's emergency protective measures category.

July 7, 1998 – A dust explosion occurred at the Cessna Aircraft plant in Wichita causing minor damage (less than $50,000) and injuring one worker.

October 30 through November 3, 1998 (Halloween Flood) – A large and intense fall storm slowly rolled over the eastern one-half of Kansas on Halloween 1998 leaving a 2-day deluge of more than 6 inches of rainfall over a 20-county area. Some locations received almost a foot of rain that led to flash flooding as well as historic flooding of rivers draining the region. The Walnut, Cottonwood, Whitewater and Arkansas Rivers reached record levels. Nearly one-third of the USGS streamflow-gauging stations in Kansas recorded water levels above flood stage during the first week of November 1998 thus documenting the largest area flooded in Kansas since the 1993 floods.

Six USGS gauging stations on the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers were above National Weather Service flood stage between October 31 and November 3, 1998. One notable occurrence of flooding was in the Cowskin Creek area of western Wichita resulting in about $4 million in flood damage for nearly 170 homes and businesses along Cowskin Creek and its tributaries. The highest recorded rainfall totals from this flood was 10.96 inches in Cheney, 12.30 inches in Valley Center, and 12.66 in Wichita.

Totals from the flood resulted in 37.8 million dollars in damage, and the evacuation of over 5,300 people. With all the devastation, only 2 people were injured and only 1 person was killed. In Sedgwick County, flooding from Cowskin Creek caused $4 million in damage to homes, businesses, roads, and crops. Nearly 100 people were evacuated in west Wichita due to the Cowskin Creek flooding. The widespread flooding of 1998 resulted in Presidential Declaration FEMA-1258-DR affecting 20 Kansas counties to include Sedgwick County for both individual and public assistance.

Flood Control Project: The Cowskin Creek Basin is located in the western part of Wichita, Kansas. This basin has sustained significant recurring flooding problems directly impacting residential areas. The November 1998 flood resulted in significant damage to about 200 homes and many businesses, some of which were damaged beyond 50 percent of their value. Under Section 205 of the Flood Control Act of 1948, as amended (Continuing Authority -- Flood Control), the joint City of Wichita and U.S. Army Corps of Engineer (USACE) project is currently in the final stages of development of the construction contract plans and specifications phase. The recommended plan of improvement would include channelization of a portion of Cowskin Creek with construction of an overbank area to convey the high flows during a flood event.

Flood Control Project: An evaluation by Black and Veatch in 2003 was conducted on the stormwater drainage system within the 122 square mile (78,000 acres) Cowskin Creek watershed. The watershed is generally bounded by 311th Street West, 77th Street North, 71st Street West, and Kansas Highway 42 (K-42). Tributary confluences of the Cowskin Creek include: Dry Creek, Calfskin Creek, North Fork of the Calfskin Creek, Middle Fork of Calfskin Creek, and Westlink. There were 20 potential improvement projects identified to reduce the levels of flooding in the Cowskin Creek watershed. The projects consisted of a series of natural channel improvements, detention, diversion, individual structural improvements, and home buyouts.

Flood Monitoring: Within the Cowskin Creek Basin, a series of 3 satellite gages, installed by the USGS in cooperation with the city, called Data Collection Platforms or DCPs transmit real-time data of river stage and rainfall amounts located along Cowskin Creek. Also a network of ALERT gauge sites scattered across the Cowskin Creek Basin monitor stream levels on the upper end of the Cowskin Creek, Dry Creek and Calfskin Creek. The creek gauges along with 3 other rain gauge sites in the basin also transmit rainfall amounts to the Wichita Storm Water Management and National Weather Service for any potential problems. There were also two other automated stream flow-gauging stations that were installed by the USGS on the Whitewater River at Augusta and on the Walnut River at Arkansas City in 2002. With this new set of data, this information is input into hydrologic models to come up with better and more accurate forecasts of river crests. As result from the enormous flooding on the west side of Wichita, a new river forecast point has been established on the Cowskin Creek at 119th St. What this means is the National Weather Service in Wichita will closely monitor this site when the river levels begin to reach flood stage or above and issue flood warnings and statements for this site to warn the public of the impending hazard. The established flood stage along this site is 18 ft. The USGS has dedicated a website to monitor river levels on the Cowskin Creek.

November 9, 1998, 1925 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 50 yards touched down three miles NW of Clearwater and tracked for one mile causing approximately $50,000 in property damage and hitting one home.

January 28, 1999 – A major fire broke out in Mulvane which started in a plastic's shop and it spread south into a machine shop and north into a winery. Being feed by an unusual wind out of the Northeast, the fire then spread into Rowan's Flower shop, a two story building directly to the west. Mutual aid was requested from Derby Fire Department, Sedgwick County Fire District #1, Sumner County Fire District #9, Cowley County Fire District #4, Butler County Fire District #3, Clearwater Fire Department, and Conway Springs Fire Department to assist Mulvane Fire Department. The water flow was so great that a mutual aid tanker shuttle was set up at two points supplying the engine companies.

April 5, 1999, 0610 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 350 yards touched down one mile south of Andale and tracked for two miles causing approximately $100,000 in property damage. The tornado, embedded in strong downburst winds, inflicted minor damage to three houses, one silo, one trailer and to numerous trees. Synoptic-scale high winds of 39-53kts with gusts to 63kts ripped across Central Kansas from midmorning thru late afternoon.

April 5, 1999, 0640 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 50 yards formed along the gust front of a downburst in East Wichita. Initial touchdown occurred just west of the East Harry/South Oliver intersection. The tornado moved northeast to the Kellogg/Oliver intersection, then almost due north to just east of the Central/Oliver intersection where it lifted. The two-mile tornado track resulted in extensive tree damage, destroyed two portable grade school classrooms, caved in the ceiling of a supermarket, and caused extensive roof damage to homes and businesses. Property damage from this event was approximately $2 million.

May 3, 1999, 1930 to 1955 CST – A magnitude F4 tornado with a width of 880 yards initially touched down four miles north of Wellington in Central Sumner County. SKYWARN reports indicated the tornado crossed the Sumner/Sedgwick County line at 1930, one mile west of Peck. Moving northeast at 30kts, the tornado hit Haysville at 1935, destroying a subdivision just southwest of the South Seneca-South 87th Street intersection where the first 2 fatalities occurred in a mobile home park when a woman and her grandson were killed while running for shelter. A 6th fatality attributed to this storm resulted when an elderly man died from his injuries at a Wichita hospital on May 23rd. The tornado then moved north along South Seneca Avenue, entering the Haysville Central Business District at 1938. The 3rd fatality occurred at this point when an elderly man was killed in a mobile home at South 75th Street. At the South Seneca/South 71st Street intersection, most of the businesses were heavily damaged or destroyed. Damage summary for Haysville (damaged or destroyed): 150 homes, 27 businesses, 3 churches, 1 library, 4 historic buildings and 1 lodge. The tornado entered South Wichita at 1943 when it crossed South 55th Street. The tornado then veered slightly toward the northwest. At South 47th Street it reassumed a northeast track. Crossing MacArthur Avenue, the tornado leveled the Lakeshore and Pacesetter mobile home parks located just northeast of the South Seneca/MacArthur intersection where the 4th and 5th fatalities occurred, one at each mobile home park. At 1945, the tornado crossed the East Harry Street interchange on I-135 and continued to move northeast, lifting in the College Hill District in Northeast Wichita. Along this entire track, the tornado left a path of destruction 14 miles long and 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide.

A presidential declaration (FEMA-1273-DR) was declared May 4, 1999 and covered the period May 3 through 6, 1999. Sumner and Sedgwick County were authorized to receive both public and individual assistance caused by this disaster. Damage summary for Sedgwick County: 8,480 buildings (all types) damaged or destroyed. Of these, 2,456 were at least 50% destroyed and 1,109 totally destroyed. There were a total of six fatalities and 150 injuries reported with the storm. There was over $140 million in damages from the storm.

May 13, 1999 – Before 7:00PM, dispatchers were notified that 17-month old Jessy Kraus fell and was trapped inside a partially finished hand dug well at 102 Countrywalk Drive in Mulvane. The well was approximately 25 feet deep, measuring 12 inches by 14 inches at the surface and narrowed to eight inches at the bottom. A backhoe starting digging a 36 inch rescue trench adjacent to the well at 8:00PM and by 10:30PM the 20 foot deep trench was shored up with plywood and screw jacks. Vulcan Materials Company (now OxyChem) assisted responders with a sophisticated TV monitor with fiber optic lens to observe baby Jessy at the bottom of the well during the excavation process. A six to seven foot long horizontal tunnel was started toward the eight inch well with pneumatic hammers and chisels until 11:35PM when they reached baby Jessy. At 11:45 p.m. he was pulled from the trench onto a spine board, transported by Mulvane Ambulance 350 two blocks away to the waiting Lifewatch helicopter and then on to Wesley Medical Center. Backfilling of the excavation started at 1:30AM and ended at 2:15AM.

July 6, 1999, 1650 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 55 yards touched down in open country five miles north of Wichita and tracked for one mile with no reported property damage.

July 6, 1999, 1657 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 55 yards touched down in north Wichita and tracked for one mile with no reported property damage.

July 6, 1999, 1710 CST – An F0 tornado with a width of 55 yards touched down in NW Wichita and tracked for one mile with no reported property damage.

September 27, 1999 – Stationary thunderstorms positioned themselves over the City of Wichita resulting in rain beginning on the evening of the 26th, and lasting through the early morning hours of the 27th. Many rainfall records were set. Some of which include 3.85 inches in one hour, 4.89 inches in 2 hours, and 5.63 inches in 3 hours. A total of 7.93 inches of rain fell in the 24 hour period, which is the second highest on record. The 24-hour record is 7.99 inches, occurring on September 6th and 7th, 1911.