As with any strange twist of fate, a couple of seemingly innocuous decisions led to John Ellington and David Loomis becoming a part of Iola lore.
And with Monday the 30th anniversary of Allen County’s notorious “inland hurricane,” the Register reached out to Loomis and to the Ellingtons this week to hear their recollections of being part of one of Iola’s most unexpected meteorological chapters.
Ellington and wife Nancy, who now live in Yates Center, were married the night of the storm at Iola’s St. John’s Catholic Church. They were in the church as the winds began to howl outside. They emerged from taking pictures after the storm subsided to see the St. John’s steeple toppled. The metal cross perched atop the steeple pierced their car’s hood.
Loomis, who continues to live on a farm a few miles north of Iola, and wife Phyllis were at Riverside Park when the storm hit, watching son Matt’s baseball game. They sought shelter by parking their car alongside the football stadium, only to be buried minutes later when the stadium’s old overhanging roof flipped over onto the car.
No one was injured in the storm, and while memories of some minute details have faded, the events of the Aug. 1, 1986, storm remain seared in the Ellingtons and Loomises’ memories three decades later.
“Yeah, we don’t forget our anniversary,” John Ellington laughed.
THE DAY of the storm was like most any other late-summer Friday.
The thick haze of 90-degree temperatures coupled with high humidity made outside work a chore. The Loomis children, Matt, Jana and Lisa, were headed with Phyllis to Riverside Park for Matt’s Little League baseball game.
David had other plans, at least at first.
A mail carrier at the time, David had returned home and was eager to unload a trailer of hay into a shed on the farm’s outskirts.
Phyllis cajoled him into hanging up his hay hooks — his pickup and trailer already were beneath the shed’s roof and seemingly safe from the elements — and joining the family for the ball game.
First pitch was minutes away when police officers arrived at the park in a rush. The officers summoned coaches, umpires and others in the crowd to tell them a round of storms that had blasted through Burlington and was bearing down on Allen County.
The players and their parents quickly scooped up their gear and raced home.
Almost immediately, a bustling area of activity was deserted.
“It’s amazing how quickly that place emptied,” Loomis recalled.
