Student Journalism @ Barton Community College

Severe Weather Safety

Personal Stories and History of Weather Disasters during Barton Community College's History

 

Jacob Flax, Student Journalist

Barton Community College

Great Bend, Kan.

 

First Published 7 May 2014

 

Note: This is the final of a three article series entitled Spring Severe Weather Season.

 

We have already gone over tornado myths and Barton's severe weather plan. Now, we will review the disasters that have happened during the history of the college.

 

In 1981, Great Bend experienced some of the worst flooding of the last fifty years. Jim Ireland, the Coordinator of Facility Management at the Great Bend Campus, said, “In that year, we had to utilize the college as a shelter for the pubic because of the campus’s location on high ground.”

 

I also discovered that some at the college have experienced other incidents of severe weather.

 

Linda McCaffery, History Instructor at the Great Bend Campus, said, “the most terrible weather event that I ever faced was a Colorado forest fire.  We were told to evacuate with the fire bearing down on the cabin my father built 62 years ago.  Thankfully, the wind reversed direction and the fire was pushed back on the already burned area, and our cabin was spared.”

 

Renetta Furrow, Secretary for Business Technology and Community Education, remembers the night of the Greensburg Tornado. Furrow said that "the storm was moving slow for a long time. We lost the barn on that night due to a tornado, but we were still fine along with our house. Our neighbors were a big help to us during the cleanup.”

 

I have also had some close calls with some disasters. Thirteen years ago, I remember the Hoisington Tornado when the tornado went through the high school, the local grocery store, and the Dairy Queen. I also remember when a tornado went through LaCrosse two years ago, destroying two mobile homes and the local grocery store. I remember this one because while on my paper route, I witnessed the destruction.

 

Below is a picture of me holding the Rush County News with pictures and stories about the La Crosse tornado.