Clinging tightly to tornado myths

I was shopping at a west Wichita store Sunday afternoon when I brought my purchases to the counter for checkout. While waiting for a gift to be wrapped, I overheard employees talking as they looked out store windows at the sky.

“That one looks scary,” one of them said, nodding toward a cumulus cloud billowing east of Wichita.

Tornado season could start soon, another said, and as the employees talked I could tell at least a couple of them had read my Sunday story about that very topic. I held my tongue – at least until what I heard next.

“It’s a good thing we have the Keeper,” a female employee said.

I couldn’t help myself.

“I presume you mean the Keeper of the Plains, and the myth that it protects Wichita from tornadoes,” I said.

“Yes – Wichita has never been hit by a tornado because of it,” she said.

“Actually, that’s not true,” I said. “Wichita was hit in 1991, 1999, and….I want to say 1993. The Keeper of the Plains does not protect Wichita from tornadoes. That’s a myth.”

“She meant her house hasn’t been hit by a tornado,” another employee interjected.

That was a matter of good fortune, I told them, and they needed to take appropriate precautions and shelter if tornado warnings are issued.

I was thinking of the Labor Day weekend tornado that hit along Kellogg and other parts of Wichita when I said 1993. It turns out I was off by a year; it was 1992. But my point was valid: Wichita isn’t immune from tornadoes, even though it has the Keeper of the Plains watching over it.

I thought of people who died in Arkansas during the Super Tuesday outbreak a few years ago because relatives had told them their small valley was immune from tornadoes – so they didn’t seek appropriate shelter.

I wonder how many Wichitans may die in a future tornado because they cling to myths?

Even if it’s just one, that’s too many.

This story was originally published February 22, 2011 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Clinging tightly to tornado myths."