On this day in 1990, a deadly F-5 tornado ripped through the town of Hesston in Harvey County.  

The twister was on the ground for nearly 50 miles and, at one point, merged with a sister tornado nearby. Two people were killed as a result of the storm.  

A 6-year-old boy huddled with his family near the town of Burrton died when a chimney collapsed into the home's basement. In the Marion County town of Goessel, an elderly woman lost her life in the storm.

Harvey County alone sustained more than $25 million in damages. More than 200 homes and 20 businesses were damaged or destroyed in Hesston. Dozens of people were injured in the tornado's path.

Below is an excerpt from the National Weather Service in Wichita detailing that day's tornado outbreak::

"In 1990, 19 tornadoes roared across parts of South Central and Central Kansas. The largest and most damaging was the infamous Hesston tornado in Harvey County. Developing just south of Pretty Prairie late in the afternoon, the twister quickly strengthened to F5 intensity when it possessed rotational velocities between 260 and 319 mph. It traveled northeast for 48 miles, striking the west side of Hesston." 

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