For many, many years, residents of the little town of Codell, Kansas stayed close to their “fraidy holes,” storm cellars and caves when May 20th rolled around. It was a habit that was very understandable.
It seemed that Mother Nature was out to get the small town in the years just before 1920. You see, Codell had been struck by tornadoes on May 20th, for three straight years in 1916, 1917 and 1918. Amazingly, each of the tornadoes occurred at about the same time, at 7 p.m., 6:15 p.m. and 7:18 p.m. respectively.
In 1916, an F2 tornado passed just south and east of the town. Mainly farms were damaged along the F2 twister’s 15 mile path and no one was injured.
In 1917, the tornado was larger, but still passed over rural land and only a few ranches were damaged. The 1918 tornado was a different story. The F4 tornado struck some of the same farms that had been hit by the 1917 storm, including a ranch on the Saline River where 5 people died in a home that had been damaged in 1917. The tornado then fell with fury on the town of Codell where many buildings were damaged. No one was killed in Codell by the F4, probably due to the town’s past history. 9 people were killed along the 60 mile path.
Unbelievably, to this date, no other tornado has visited the town of Codell.
It seemed that Mother Nature was out to get the small town in the years just before 1920. You see, Codell had been struck by tornadoes on May 20th, for three straight years in 1916, 1917 and 1918. Amazingly, each of the tornadoes occurred at about the same time, at 7 p.m., 6:15 p.m. and 7:18 p.m. respectively.
In 1916, an F2 tornado passed just south and east of the town. Mainly farms were damaged along the F2 twister’s 15 mile path and no one was injured.
In 1917, the tornado was larger, but still passed over rural land and only a few ranches were damaged. The 1918 tornado was a different story. The F4 tornado struck some of the same farms that had been hit by the 1917 storm, including a ranch on the Saline River where 5 people died in a home that had been damaged in 1917. The tornado then fell with fury on the town of Codell where many buildings were damaged. No one was killed in Codell by the F4, probably due to the town’s past history. 9 people were killed along the 60 mile path.
Unbelievably, to this date, no other tornado has visited the town of Codell.