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Udall, Kansas

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History

The first post office at Udall was established in September 1879. J.M. Napier and P.W. Smith purchased a ten-acre tract from I.N Nelson in 1879. Udall was laid out in 1881 by Napier and Smith. It was named after English author Cornelius Udall. D.C. Green built the first house in Udall and opened a store.

1955 tornado

On May 25, 1955, after an F5 tornado killed 20 people, injured 250, and destroyed/damaged hundreds of buildings in Blackwell, Oklahoma, the same supercell produced another F5 tornado that struck Udall at 10:35 p.m, the deadliest tornado to ever hit the state of Kansas. A 1,300 yd (0.74 mi) wide F5 tornado demolished Udall; no building within the city limits was untouched, including the grain elevator, water tower, old grade school, new high school, city hall, three churches. The water tower had been knocked over and the streets were flooded. Vehicles were thrown hundreds of yards and mangled beyond recognition, including a pickup truck that was wrapped around a tree and stripped of everything but its frame and tires. In Udall, the tornado killed 77, injured 270, 192 buildings were destroyed, including 170 homes, around 50% of families lost one or more members.

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