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Without Warning: The Tornado of Udall, Kansas
In 1955 the small town of Udall, Kansas, was home to oil field workers, homemakers, and teenagers looking ahead to their futures. But on the night of May 25, an F5 tornado struck their town without warning. In three minutes the tornado destroyed most of the buildings, including the new high school. It toppled the water tower. It lifted a pickup truck, stripped off its cab, and hung the frame in a tree. By the time the tornado moved on, it had killed 82 people and injured 270 others, more than half the town’s population of roughly 600 people. It remains the deadliest tornado in the history of Kansas.
Jim Minick’s nonfiction account, Without Warning , tells the human story of this disaster, moment by moment, from the perspectives of those who survived. His spellbinding narrative connects this history to our world today. Minick demonstrates that even if we have never experienced a tornado, we are still a people shaped and defined by weather and the events that unfold in our changing climate. Through the tragedy and hope found in this story of destruction, Without Warning tells a larger story of community, survival, and how we might find our way through the challenges of the future.
Jim Minick’s nonfiction account, Without Warning , tells the human story of this disaster, moment by moment, from the perspectives of those who survived. His spellbinding narrative connects this history to our world today. Minick demonstrates that even if we have never experienced a tornado, we are still a people shaped and defined by weather and the events that unfold in our changing climate. Through the tragedy and hope found in this story of destruction, Without Warning tells a larger story of community, survival, and how we might find our way through the challenges of the future.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
250 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2023
14 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Jim Minick
12 books117 followersJim Minick is the author of five books, including the novel Fire Is Your Water (Ohio UP, 2017), and The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family (St. Martin’s, 2012), winner of the SIBA Best Nonfiction Book of the Year Award. Minick has also written a collection of essays, Finding a Clear Path, two books of poetry, Her Secret Song and Burning Heaven, and he edited All There Is to Keep by Rita Riddle. His honors include the Jean Ritchie Fellowship in Appalachian Writing, and the Fred Chappell Fellowship at University of North Carolina-Greensboro. He has also won awards from the Southern Independent Booksellers Association, Southern Environmental Law Center, The Virginia College Bookstore Association, Appalachian Writers Association, Appalachian Heritage, Now and Then Magazine, and Radford University. His poem “I Dream a Bean” was picked by Claudia Emerson for permanent display at the Tysons Corner/Metrorail Station. Minick’s work has appeared in many publications including Poets & Writers, Oxford American, Orion, Shenandoah, Encyclopedia of Appalachia, The Sun, Conversations with Wendell Berry, San Francisco Chronicle, Appalachian Journal, The Roanoke Times, and Still. He completed an MFA in fiction from UNC-Greensboro, where he was Fiction Editor for The Greensboro Review. Currently, he teaches at Augusta University and in Converse College’s low-residency MFA program.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 18, 2024
Fascinating and heartbreaking read. I spent a lot of time looking up information about F5 tornadoes and the victims from the book. Since they have started keeping records in the 19th century, there have only been 67 official F5 tornadoes in the United States. This F5 tornado wiped out this small town in Kansas and killed/injured over half of the population.
June 4, 2023
When it's a well-told, well-documented story about a historical weather event like an F5 tornado, I can devour the book in just a few sittings. This is that kind of story. Minick has done his homework to document the stories of individual families. He includes the tornado without making it a monster or a personification, without introducing meteorological tropes and errors (despite the "without warning" title, which is accurate in this case as a nighttime tornado in the 1950s), and with consideration for its context. This book is a must-add to the bookshelves of those who enjoy weather history.
May 16, 2023
The Udall tornado struck on the night of May 25, 1955, and it was the worst ever in Kansas, killing nearly ninety people within the city limits of Udall, an all-American small town like the setting for dozens of movies and t.v. shows of the era. It had a water tower, kids on bikes tossing newspapers onto porches, a part-time mayor everyone knew personally, several protestant churches, and a handful of stores.
Minick makes a portrait of a town and its disaster into a highly gripping story. The first third of the book with brilliant simplicity just tells the stories, hour by hour: there is a bridal shower in the community center; people worry about the threatening weather; the radio warns of storms, but not tornados. It hits unexpectedly, heralded by heavy hail and the infamous sound of a giant freight train. Some people get into their storm cellars (this is Kansas, after all, so many families had them). Teen-aged Bobby Atkinson is knocked out and wakes up with a broken leg, two broken arms, a smashed hand, numerous bits of wood and rubble in his skin and flesh--and a two by two board plunged in his back, puncturing a lung and injuring other organs. He doesn't know the extent of his injuries, but knows he is all alone in the rain and drags himself for help, not knowing most of his family is dead. He takes shelter in the family car for a while, and is discovered by a neighbor– who flashes a flashlight on him, asks how he is, and then leaves. Minick in his epilogue considers this incident closely along with other moments that could have gone worse or better, right or wrong, that would have changed this history.
Bobby is just one of many people who we follow through the storm: one family in a storm cellar chops through debris to let another family in. People are stripped of every stitch of clothing, babies and young children smashed dead. The elderly and the little ones were most vulnerable.
Minick's stand-out characters are probably Bobby Atkinson with the broken bones and Mayor Earl "Toots" Rowe whose boss gives him six weeks off to help organize the recovery. Toots leads people searching through the rubble, talks to the media, and, perhaps above all, convinces everyone that if they just work together they can rebuild their flattened town and recreate their community.
Another large chunk of the book is the rebuilding, the year after the tornado, which is not as breathtaking as the night of the tornado, but in some ways perhaps even more interesting. It details the support that poured in and the ordinary and extraordinary efforts and kindness of people to one another. There are a few incidents like the man who abandoned the wounded Bobby Atkinson teenager, but more of the story is about making common cause and helping out your neighbors.. Money is raised from the region and the nation. Large groups of Mennonite men, trained in disaster relief as conscientious objectors come and help with the search for bodies. The Red Cross is there and the Salivation Army and the National Guard. Unions send volunteers to put up houses, and churches and other organizations send donations.
Almost unbelievably, the schools are rebuilt in time to have classes September, four months after the tornado. Homes go up in weeks and months, and the businesses downtown. It's a town of only 1,000 people, but still, that is a lot of structures. It is in the end, an astounding and inspiring community and government partnership that rebuilds Udall.
The last part of the book is about commemorations and forgetting.
Minick reminds us that the Udall Tornado was just ten years after WWII ended, and that it was also in the middle of the Cold War. People feared nuclear holocaust and had fresh memories of war. They were trained in civil defense and ready to work together. That sense of commonality also makes it a time many Americans look back to as The Golden Age: small towns where you knew your neighbors; strong family structures, men generally considered the heads of families. Women who worked outside the home were teachers or perhaps post mistresses or clerks in a family store. People theoretically knew and took strength from their place, both the town and their role in it.
Minick doesn't make this point directly, but it is also clear that this was a largely homogeneous demographic. As far as Minick tells us, and his exhaustive and excellent research suggests that he didn't miss a lot-- everyone was white. Many people weren't that many generations from immigration, but the War had forged a common identity. So while the wonderful outpouring of aid and support was partly natural human kindness, it was also the natural human tendency to identify with those who are most like us. There was enormous camaraderie and communal identity with these small town European background white folks in their familiar roles and lives.
Minick ends with an epilogue wondering if we will be able to use this kind of good will to combat climate change, which is an interesting and timely line of thinking. I would add that I also wonder if we will be able to have such communal problem solving when everyone is not of similar color, religion, background, and experience. The Udallians rebuilt and stayed: many survivors married each other and, even if they left for school or work, often came back to live.
When will we begin to see Our Town in the lives of the Others, whoever they might be?
Minick makes a portrait of a town and its disaster into a highly gripping story. The first third of the book with brilliant simplicity just tells the stories, hour by hour: there is a bridal shower in the community center; people worry about the threatening weather; the radio warns of storms, but not tornados. It hits unexpectedly, heralded by heavy hail and the infamous sound of a giant freight train. Some people get into their storm cellars (this is Kansas, after all, so many families had them). Teen-aged Bobby Atkinson is knocked out and wakes up with a broken leg, two broken arms, a smashed hand, numerous bits of wood and rubble in his skin and flesh--and a two by two board plunged in his back, puncturing a lung and injuring other organs. He doesn't know the extent of his injuries, but knows he is all alone in the rain and drags himself for help, not knowing most of his family is dead. He takes shelter in the family car for a while, and is discovered by a neighbor– who flashes a flashlight on him, asks how he is, and then leaves. Minick in his epilogue considers this incident closely along with other moments that could have gone worse or better, right or wrong, that would have changed this history.
Bobby is just one of many people who we follow through the storm: one family in a storm cellar chops through debris to let another family in. People are stripped of every stitch of clothing, babies and young children smashed dead. The elderly and the little ones were most vulnerable.
Minick's stand-out characters are probably Bobby Atkinson with the broken bones and Mayor Earl "Toots" Rowe whose boss gives him six weeks off to help organize the recovery. Toots leads people searching through the rubble, talks to the media, and, perhaps above all, convinces everyone that if they just work together they can rebuild their flattened town and recreate their community.
Another large chunk of the book is the rebuilding, the year after the tornado, which is not as breathtaking as the night of the tornado, but in some ways perhaps even more interesting. It details the support that poured in and the ordinary and extraordinary efforts and kindness of people to one another. There are a few incidents like the man who abandoned the wounded Bobby Atkinson teenager, but more of the story is about making common cause and helping out your neighbors.. Money is raised from the region and the nation. Large groups of Mennonite men, trained in disaster relief as conscientious objectors come and help with the search for bodies. The Red Cross is there and the Salivation Army and the National Guard. Unions send volunteers to put up houses, and churches and other organizations send donations.
Almost unbelievably, the schools are rebuilt in time to have classes September, four months after the tornado. Homes go up in weeks and months, and the businesses downtown. It's a town of only 1,000 people, but still, that is a lot of structures. It is in the end, an astounding and inspiring community and government partnership that rebuilds Udall.
The last part of the book is about commemorations and forgetting.
Minick reminds us that the Udall Tornado was just ten years after WWII ended, and that it was also in the middle of the Cold War. People feared nuclear holocaust and had fresh memories of war. They were trained in civil defense and ready to work together. That sense of commonality also makes it a time many Americans look back to as The Golden Age: small towns where you knew your neighbors; strong family structures, men generally considered the heads of families. Women who worked outside the home were teachers or perhaps post mistresses or clerks in a family store. People theoretically knew and took strength from their place, both the town and their role in it.
Minick doesn't make this point directly, but it is also clear that this was a largely homogeneous demographic. As far as Minick tells us, and his exhaustive and excellent research suggests that he didn't miss a lot-- everyone was white. Many people weren't that many generations from immigration, but the War had forged a common identity. So while the wonderful outpouring of aid and support was partly natural human kindness, it was also the natural human tendency to identify with those who are most like us. There was enormous camaraderie and communal identity with these small town European background white folks in their familiar roles and lives.
Minick ends with an epilogue wondering if we will be able to use this kind of good will to combat climate change, which is an interesting and timely line of thinking. I would add that I also wonder if we will be able to have such communal problem solving when everyone is not of similar color, religion, background, and experience. The Udallians rebuilt and stayed: many survivors married each other and, even if they left for school or work, often came back to live.
When will we begin to see Our Town in the lives of the Others, whoever they might be?
September 27, 2024
Without Warning, The Tornado of Udall, Kansas by Jim Minick won the 2023 Martin History Book Award through Kansas Authors Club.
I grew up hearing the horrific stories of the Udall tornado. I was 5 years old at the time it hit. Sadly when reading the book I quickly learned that the facts of that evening were far worse than what I remembered or even knew about at the time. Minuck pulled the individual stories together through interviews with survivors, and newspaper articles, gaining details about what happened as the tornado tore through the small town of Udall. This book is a tribute to those who lost their lives, those who survived, and those who came to help treat the injured.
Congratulations, Jim Minick, for a well-written book that gives insight into the tragic moments Udall, Kansas went through, forever changing the lives of so many.
I grew up hearing the horrific stories of the Udall tornado. I was 5 years old at the time it hit. Sadly when reading the book I quickly learned that the facts of that evening were far worse than what I remembered or even knew about at the time. Minuck pulled the individual stories together through interviews with survivors, and newspaper articles, gaining details about what happened as the tornado tore through the small town of Udall. This book is a tribute to those who lost their lives, those who survived, and those who came to help treat the injured.
Congratulations, Jim Minick, for a well-written book that gives insight into the tragic moments Udall, Kansas went through, forever changing the lives of so many.
October 1, 2025
In 1995 I was a reporter for the Winfield Daily Courier, and Udall was part of my beat. That May, the town commemorated the 40th anniversary of Kansas’ deadliest tornado.
As a young, naive reporter I had no idea the magnitude of the storm, but I remember the dedication of a stone that memorialized each person killed.
It was a lot.
In retrospect, I should have dug deeper to find survivors and tell their story.
Jim Minick has done that here. Extremely thorough, detailed and gripping, Without Warning is an amazing tale. So well written, I had a hard time putting it down.
And while this happened in a small Kansas town, a tornado like the one that ravaged Udall could happen anywhere; the names herein could be our own neighbors.
It really is an unbelievable story and so well told.
I picked this book up at the Kansas Book Festival, held each September at Washburn University in Topeka.
As a young, naive reporter I had no idea the magnitude of the storm, but I remember the dedication of a stone that memorialized each person killed.
It was a lot.
In retrospect, I should have dug deeper to find survivors and tell their story.
Jim Minick has done that here. Extremely thorough, detailed and gripping, Without Warning is an amazing tale. So well written, I had a hard time putting it down.
And while this happened in a small Kansas town, a tornado like the one that ravaged Udall could happen anywhere; the names herein could be our own neighbors.
It really is an unbelievable story and so well told.
I picked this book up at the Kansas Book Festival, held each September at Washburn University in Topeka.
June 6, 2023
I just read this book - finished it a week ago - and loved it.
You will be haunted by its imagery, as the author really brings you into the lives of the people in the tragic town. He really connects the reader to the individuals, and it is so suspenseful as we only learn over time who survives and who does not.
The writing is excellent: fast-paced, detailed, gripping. Heroes are identified - all based on careful research. Remarkable historical work here.
I hope some day to drive through the town to see if I can recognize any of the surviving landmarks (there weren't many). Thank you, Mr. Minick, for writing this book!
You will be haunted by its imagery, as the author really brings you into the lives of the people in the tragic town. He really connects the reader to the individuals, and it is so suspenseful as we only learn over time who survives and who does not.
The writing is excellent: fast-paced, detailed, gripping. Heroes are identified - all based on careful research. Remarkable historical work here.
I hope some day to drive through the town to see if I can recognize any of the surviving landmarks (there weren't many). Thank you, Mr. Minick, for writing this book!
November 14, 2023
This is an engaging look back at the deadliest tornado in Kansas history. The author includes the kind of little details that give you a real sense of the small town of Udall and the people who live there.
That spirit is what drove the community's desire to rebuild even after the tornado took away so much - and so many.
I was moved to tears more than once while reading the book, and certain scenes will stay with me forever.
I wrote about Udall and the tornado more than once as a journalist, and many of the names and stories in this book are familiar to me. The odyssey of horror and hope, of tragedy and dauntless spirit, is told well.
That spirit is what drove the community's desire to rebuild even after the tornado took away so much - and so many.
I was moved to tears more than once while reading the book, and certain scenes will stay with me forever.
I wrote about Udall and the tornado more than once as a journalist, and many of the names and stories in this book are familiar to me. The odyssey of horror and hope, of tragedy and dauntless spirit, is told well.
January 9, 2024
I received this for Christmas because my Mother's family lived just outside of Udall and they lost several children in this disaster. Jim Minick has woven various interviews and news reports into an engaging story, with the primary focus on the people of the community. It feels very real, both in the scope of the tragedy and in the courage and resilience of the survivors. It also shows how various people and communities gathered to help with rebuilding and healing.
March 13, 2025
Mr. Minick did an incredible job relaying the realities, heartbreak, aftermath, and triumphs of the survivors of the worst tornado in Kansas' history. Sometimes, it was hard to continue reading, but the chapter that tore me up was near the end. I was in my small high school band and identified with Chapter 15, Marching On. After reading the last sentence about moving forward, I was mesmerized by the last thirty pages: the Epilogue, Appendix, Acknowledgments, and the Bibliographic Essay.
May 22, 2023
My uncle, his wife, and infant daughter survived this tornado. The book was informative, even to someone like me who has grown up hearing the many stories. My aunt’s brother was interviewed, and his recollections are detailed in the book. The town’s resilience was simply amazing.
Want to read
June 14, 2024O
July 30, 2025
Great book, other than about 20% of the epilogue.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews