Rita Bennett remembers the day a twister ripped through Topeka, Kansas, like it was yesterday. The 1966 Topeka tornado killed 17 people, injured more than 500 people and caused $2.3 billion in damage, adjusted for 2023 inflation, making it one of the nation’s costliest tornadoes. The twister tested the longstanding urban legend, based on an oral story passed down by Potawatomi tribe spiritual leaders, that Burnett’s Mound could deflect tornadoes and spare Topeka from incoming storms.
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