Leaving destruction in their path, eight tornadoes struck Chase County on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. The tornadoes hit many cities of Chase County including Elmdale, Strong City and Cottonwood Falls.Following the tornadoes, many community members assessed the damage. Fences, trees, roofs, windows, and even light poles were destroyed.
“We obviously have extensive damage to the fencing and dugouts of the old baseball field. The outfield has a lot of debris in it and has holes in the ground where debris hit,” superintendent Glenna Grinstead said. “We are continuing to inspect the football fields, practice areas, grandstands, and press boxes.”
Since the damage was extensive, it is unclear just how much there is so far. However, fixing the damage will be costly. Currently the school is working with companies to figure the cost.
“We are working with our insurance company and with various companies to get estimates,” Grinstead said.
For some, the damage was much worse. Two brothers, Chase County students, Dominic and Micah Cauthers, seemed to have caught the worst of the tornado. The Cauthers’ house had windows blown out, power boxes destroyed, and trees on their roof. During the storm, however, the Cauthers’ found shelter elsewhere.
“Micah and I were at the gym once the storm started to pick up and we were outside of the gym with each other and Colton just watching the storm, until we saw power lines explode and the wind start to pick up debris around us,” senior Dominic Cauthers said.
After leaving the gym, Dominic and Micah went to a friend’s house until the tornado passed. When it was safe to leave, the brothers drove around town to see how much damage it caused.
“We drove around Cottonwood and then arrived at our house where we saw the damage and we were both just speechless. We began to clean the morning after and we expected for it to be just us and some friends to clean the house, but we are blessed to have an amazing community that came and helped us with basically all the damage,” Dominic said.
Along with their friends who helped, other community members brought skid-loaders to help load the fallen trees into trailers. Among the members helping was principal Alberto Carrillo. Carrillo stated that he felt very proud of all the students and community members who helped with the damage.
“It was an unbelievable feeling seeing students helping their friends out. It was amazing to see the community coming to help as well,” Carrillo said. “Chase County truly is a special place.”
