188 Dead After Tornadoes Hit U.S.

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30724, 13 April 1965, Page 18

188 Dead After Tornadoes Hit U.S.

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

CHICAGO, April 12. At least 188 persons perished late yesterday when a barrage of tornadoes blasted into six Mid-Western States. Hundreds more were missing, and thousands injured. Today Indiana, the hardest-hit State, counted at least 93 dead.

Ohio had 55 fatalities, Michigan 30, Illinois seven and Wisconsin three.

Property was devastated, homes flattened, shopping centres demolished, and churches crumbled as the “twisters” struck from lowa to Ohio. The Weather Bureau decribed the disaster as the worst tornado outbreak since 1953. But the storm fell far short of the 1925 twisters in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, that left 689 dead, injured almost 2000 and caused more than 16 million dollars in property damage.

The new violence came only hours after President Johnson declared 39 Minnesota counties a disaster area after the State's worst flood in history An estimated 20.000 persons fled their homes before overflowing rivers throughout the State.

The deadly tornadoes struck first in eastern lowa in the middle of what had been a warm spring Sundav afternoon. By late evening, twisters had raged eastward . through Illinois. Wisconsin. Indiana. Michigan, and Ohio Rubble Fills Streets Across the Mid-West twister after twister spilled from the sky and smashed a wide nath of destruction. Rubble fi"ed the streets in scores of MidWest towns and cities

Some of the injured lay trapped beneath collapsed buildings and debris. Homeless families filled high schools, churches and national guard armouries.

Full emergency measures were imposed in the hardesthit areas, where National Guardsmen patrolled the streets to prevent looting. Red Cross operations were set up in Minnesota, where rivers continued to spill over their banks. Nearly 30 highways were closed because of high water.

Officials estimated that 20,000 persons were homeless. Three National Guard units were called in by Governor Karl Rolvaag in an effort to confine rising waters at Hutchinson, Chaska, and Crookston. State of Emergency

A state of emergency was declared in St. Paul, where the swollen Minnesota and Mississippi rivers converge. Three weeks ago more than three feet of snow covered the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Mayor George Vavoulis of St Paul, fearful of an anticipated 13-foot crest over the flood level, ordered dyke reinforcements. Mr and Mrs Ronnie Neese, of Lebanon, Ohio, rushed to the home of Mrs Neese’s grandparents as soon as the i sky cleared. They found the old couple sitting dazed on top of the rubble which had once been their home. Merlin Tanselle, of Lebanon, was out for an afternoon drive with his girlfriend when a tornado bore down on his car.

“It felt like something like a big hand picked up the car and carried it through the air.” he said. “It rolled over and over I don’t know how many times.”

Near Crystal Lake, northwest of Chicago, a grand piano stood alone in the liv-ing-room of a house all but demolished by a twister. Donald Rehhm told how he and his wife “crawled on our bellies” through debris to the basement when a twister smashed into a home they were visiting. At Williams Bay, Wisconsin, Howard Soper watched the funnel cloud swoop down on a nursing home.

“The roof was tossed about 100 feet away but everyone was staying put inside,” he said.