TORNADO SWEEPS MIDDLE WEST

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25810, 23 May 1949, Page 3

TORNADO SWEEPS MIDDLE WEST

SEVERE damage in I four states• 29 KILLED; 250 INJURED /yX Press Association—Copyright) ' K n p.m.) NEW YORK. May 22. » series of tornadoes ripped Jnueh the Middle West last night. Hjiina at least 29 and injuring more 250 The death toll is expected ” rise when communications are re- ? The tornadoes struck Illinois, In,iana Missouri, and lowa, damaging destroying aircraft, cutting „L-er lines, uprooting trees, smashing Endows, and severing water supplies. It least 14 were killed at Cape rirardeau 'Missouri), four at Shelburne (Indiana), two at Terra Haute Indiana), four at Palestine (Illinois), ‘ r at Woodrover (Illinois), and one ■t Clarksville 'Missouri). B The f° ur killed at Palestine were ~ j n a "drive-in” cafe, which, witnesses said, just disappeared. An eyewitness at Terra Haute said the storm virtually wiped out the west side of He town, levelling th= high school gymnasium and smashing the top floor Lm the school’s main building. The tornado that struck Shelboume slew a four-year-old girl up a trpe.cs e was found in branches 20 feet above the ground, but escaped with mlv cuts and bruises. The death toll, from tornadoes during the last week is now nearly 70.