There are moments in time that you will always remember exactly where you were when they occurred.
For many Emporians one of those dates includes June 8, 1974, when an F4 Tornado blew through the community causing millions in damage, injuring hundreds and killing six. Emporia’s Radio Stations Owner Steve Sauder was just about to sit down to dinner on the ground floor of the Four Seasons Apartment complex when activity started to develop around 6 pm.
While in the hallway of the complex, Sauder says he was asked to “go look” at exactly what was happening outside.
Marvin Tajchman was a resident of Lincoln Village at the time of the tornado. He says once it subsided, he went to survey the damage and tells KVOE News it was like a “scene out of the Walking Dead.”
James Whitaker, then the general manager of Flint Hills movie theatre, was at work at the time and says the tornado came with no warning and right in the middle of a screening. He says the twister announced its presence by destroying the north wall of the theater.
Ray Toso says he was supposed to be attending a Kansas City Royals game that evening, however, the contest was rained out. Toso was in his basement preparing to leave and visit friends when he started to notice something wasn’t quite right with his television set.
Jim Kessler had just recently graduated from Emporia State University and was out shopping when the tornado struck the mall.
Kessler was one of more than 200 individuals injured in the tornado and received over 100 stitches as a result of his injuries. Kessler stated he “feels lucky to be alive today.”
Unfortunately, not everyone was so fortunate as the tornado did claim the lives of six individuals in addition to causing nearly $25 million in damage in 1974 dollars. The tornado was ranked an F4 on the original Fujita damage scale and was one of the strongest in a regional outbreak that saw nearly 40 tornadoes total in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma that afternoon and evening. It is still overshadowed by the 1966 F-5 that hit Topeka on the same date eight years earlier.
It also overshadows an F-2 tornado that struck far west Emporia on June 7, 1990. The 1990 twister injured close to 20 people on a 10-mile path out of town.
The full interview is available in the KVOE Audio Vault.
