News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 11

NEWS-PRESS, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1998 1 1 A Tornadoes in Florida TORNADOES Man saves fiancee's life before dying The damage While hundreds awoke tens of thousands found them selves powerless, phoneless and without cable after Monday's onslaught of killer tornadoes. Service is expected to be restored to most areas today, but it may be Wednesday before several thousand homes in devastated areas of Osceola County get such basics as electricity. The storms knocked out elec trical power to more than 76,000 homes and businesses in Osceola, Seminole, Volusia and Brevard counties, utility officials said. The victims Partial list of victims killed in the central Florida tornadoes: TERRI BLACKSTONE, 39, Sanford LAURA CHRISTIANA, 77, Kissimmee DEBRA HALL, 40, Sanford EDWARD HALL, 41, Sanford STEVE GEORGE MALLOY, 37, Sanford SARAH MALLOY, 11, Sanford TRAVIS MALLOY, 9, Sanford JOE McALISTER, 22, hometown unavailable Photos by The Associated Press NOT MUCH LEFT: Firemen search through the remains of an apartment building that was destroyed by tornadoes in Winter Garden on Monday. El Nino-driven tornadoes ripped across Central Florida early Monday, killing at least 33 people and destroying hundreds of homes.

Couple's hall closet had room for only one to hide from twister Knight Rldder News Service DAYTONA BEACH Mark Christian Price's final act was to save the life he valued above all others. As the roar of a tornado bore down, Price forced his fiancee, Jennifer Johnson, into the hall closet of their one-bedroom mobile home the only safe, sealed space inside. There was room for only one. Johnson tried to pull Price in with her, but the force of the twister ripped his hand from hers as their trailer disintegrated around them Sunday night. She was thrown about 50 feet as the tornado turned the trailer inside out.

After the storm passed, next-door neighbor Dennis Griffin heard a catlike yowling in the darkness. He found a delirious Johnson running back and forth along Old Deland Road in Daytona Beach. "Dennis, come help me. Help me," she cried. Griffin got Johnson, battered but not seriously injured, inside his house.

Then, with a neighbor, Griffin went searching for Price. They found his body in the grass between the twisted I-beam frame of the mobile home and a tree snapped into a 20-foot stump. When Griffin returned to the house, he told Johnson they couldn't find Price. "I didn't want to be the one who told her," he said. Price, 41, and Johnson, 34, moved into the small trailer about a year and a half ago.

The couple had been together for several years and planned to marry in the spring. Price was a long-distance truck driver. Johnson worked as a clerk at a convenience store. She was working Sunday night but was sent home early, ahead of the storm, because she rode a bicycle to work. Both were rabid Denver Broncos fans who also loved music and movies.

Price had been a drummer in a band before moving to Florida. Beatles posters adorned their walls. Johnson couldn't bear to see what was left of her life Monday morning. Friends said she was devastated, asking repeatedly, "Why did I live?" In seclusion, she sent her friends to search through the remains of her home for anything that belonged to Price. They were like miners panning for gold in the puddles left by Sunday's storms.

Costly appliances were shoved aside in search of a photograph or a hand-written card. A stuffed toy bulldog sat half-submerged in a watery ditch across the road. A pan with the remains of a cheese and pasta dinner rested atop a dinner plate. A stiff wind clawed over it all, flipping through the pages of a Cosmopolitan magazine. And videotapes were everywhere.

Price and Johnson so loved the movies, their friends called them the Blockbuster Video of the neighborhood. Price and Johnson had something for everyone, and every occasion. "Star Wars." "Waiting to Exhale." "Fargo." "Toy Story." And tucked behind the wheels of the trailer hitch, the summer hit of 1996 "Twister." CRAIG PAULSEN, 23, Kissimmee MARK PRICE, 41, Daytona MICHAEL RAMIREZ, 50, Kissimmee KEVIN TAYLOR, 23, Sanford DOROTHY THOMAS, 66, Kissimmee MICHAEL THOMAS, 38, Kissimmee THOMAS TIPTON, 62, Sanford DONALD VINCENT, 53, Sanford CHARLES RICHARD WEBB, 49, Sanford Definitions TORNADO WATCH: Conditions are right for a tornado. TORNADO WARNING: A tornado has been sighted or is visible on radar. Early warning The Division of Emergency Management does not have warning sirens for severe weather because Lee County's communities are spread over such a large area.

The best bet for an early warning is to own a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration M' ifA if lii TMfulir LtjlljJ' I fri jf iin turn i tlliffi'lt j4n 'I I SALVAGE OPERATION: Jimmy Alliy retrieves his wife's medication from what's left of their home at the Ponderosa Park campground in Kissimmee after Monday's tornado. The Alliys, of Worcester, are spending the winter in Kissimmee. DEADLY STORMS Deadly tornadoes across the U.S.: March 18, 1925 695 killed and 2,000 injured in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana in the fastest and deadliest tornado on record, according to the National Weather Service. March 21, 1932 268 killed in a series of tornadoes in Alabama. April 5, 1936 455 killed in Mississippi and Georgia.

April 6, 1936 203 killed in Gainesville, Ga. March 21, 1952 208 killed in Arkansas, Missouri and Texas. March 31, 1962 17 killed, 100 injured in Florida. April 11, 1965 271 killed in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. April 4, 196611 killed, 530 injured in Florida.

April 3-4, 1974 350 killed in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio. CAMPGROUND TURNED UPSIDE DOWN: A firefighter looks into the overturned home of the Alliys at the Ponderosa Park campground in Kissimmee. Pearl Alliy was in the home at the time it was struck by a tornado, but she was unharmed. TORNADOES: Central Florida a disaster area TORNADO DEATHS AND DAMAGE Preliminary damage reports from Central Florida counties hit by tornadoes late Sunday and early Monday. Damage and casualty reports will be updated as survey teams comb the areas in coming days.

From Page 1A Volusia, Seminole Orange Brevard Osceola STATEWIDE At least 38 dead. More than 250 injured. An estimated 1 35,000 people without power at height of storm. BREVARD COUNTY No deaths, injuries or missing people. A tornado at Indialantic caused a total of $100,000 damage to 20 homes.

A tornado at Port Canaveral damaged about 20 businesses and a number of boats at Cape Marina, causing Manatee about $1 .3 million damage. About three homes in Merritt Island and three in the Titusville area received roof damage. Weather Radio, which will sound an alarm at any time of day when a tornado is spotted. What to do If a warning is issued or if threatening weather approaches: Move to an interior room or hallway on the lowest floor and get under a sturdy piece of furniture. Stay away from windows.

Do not try to outrun a tornado in your car; leave it immediately. If caught outside, lie flat in a nearby ditch or depression. Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes and should be abandoned. Blood needed Edison Regional Blood Center needs donors because of the disaster in Central Florida. The center has sent blood to the Orlando area, i so it needs to replenish supplies for Lee County.

The main center, at 3714 Evans Ave. in Fort Myers, and the south Fort Myers center at 16327 U.S. 41 are open from 9-5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 1 1 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

The Cape Coral office, 603 East Del Prado is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 1 1 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

Red Cross donations The Red Cross is accepting donations of money to help tornado victims. Send your donations to the Lee County chapter, 2516 Colonial Fort Myers, Fla. 33907 Some of Lee County's worst tornadoes Sept. 7, 1991 Tornado jumps across North Fort Myers and Fort Myers, hitting Cleveland Avenue business district and Edison Mall, causing about $500,000 in damage. Nov.

4, 1988: $1.1 million worth of damage to 104 homes, eight cars and three boats when an early morning tornado sweeps through the Georgetown-Tangle-wood area, south of Fort Myers. Aug. 26, 1986: Two people were injured and $500,000 in damage was done to 74 homes in northeast Cape Coral. Aug. 9, 1986: The worst tornado in county history rips through North Fort Myers and Cape Coral, causing $1.54 million damage to 218 structures.

Twelve people hurt, 11 hospitalized. Tornado ratings F0 TORNADOES: Winds from 40 mph to 72 mph F1 TORNADOES: 73 mph to 112 mph F2 TORNADOES: 1 13 mph to 157 mph F3 TORNADOES: 158 mph to 206 mph II F4 TORNADOES: 207 mph to 260 mph F5 TORNADO: 261 mph to 318 mph J0Lee MANATEE COUNTY A tree fell on a van, injuring four. FORT MYERS CAPE CORAL "hey, I'm still alive," he said. Federal relief coordinators, reacting far speedier than they did after Andrew ravaged South Florida in 1992, arrived in the area within 12 hours of the storm. James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, surveyed the damage, declared 14 counties disaster areas and predicted that federal relief checks would begin arriving within 10 days.

"Our prayers are with those families who have lost loved ones," Witt said. "It's important that they know we're here to support them. We'll help rebuild, as long as it That may be quite some time. The storms cut diagonally through the state from just east of Tampa on the Gulf Coast to Titusville, Port Canaveral, Daytona Beach and elsewhere on the Atlantic Coast. Georgia also was affected, with floods closing roads and schools Monday.

In Florida, most of the death and devastation seemed centered in Osceola County south of Orlando and the Sanford area north of Orlando. Near Kissimmee in Osceola County, early morning commuters were shocked to see bodies strewn along highways. One victim landed on Florida's Turnpike. Tom Kelly and his 22-year-old son were camping in a tent near Kissimmee when a twister hit. "I don't even have the words to describe what it sounded like," Kelly said.

"It was like a hydrogen bomb blew up in my face. The tent was torn to shreds, and we were picked up and slammed into our car. It's a thousand wonders that we weren't blown into the next county." Kelly's shoulder was broken, but his son was unharmed. The aftermath, he said, was "heartbreaking. People were walking around screaming and crying.

One lady was looking for her baby. There were bodies blown up against the fence. I saw $130,000 RVs on top of each other and wrapped around trees." President Clinton late Monday authorized federal disaster aid for Brevard, Orange, Osceola and Volusia counties. He said he would visit the region Wednesday. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the people in Central Florida," he said.

Fearing looters, authorities imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on much of the area. National Guard units were placed on standby. The region's trademark tourist attractions such as Disney World, Universal Studies and Sea World were unaffected by the storms or the curfew. It was business as usual, spokesmen said. But only there.

Gov. Lawton Chiles cut short a trip to Washington and toured the area Monday afternoon. Just a few days ago, he declared this Hazardous Weather Awareness Week. He had no idea how timely or how tragically appropriate that would be. The tornadoes were the deadliest in Florida since the National Weather Service started keeping detailed records 50 years ago.

As calamitous as it was, Hurricane Andrew killed only 15 people in Florida and 17 elsewhere. Said Chiles: "This is like a mini-Hurricane Andrew." And once again, that sadly familiar refrain the whine of gasoline-powered generators and the roar of gasoline-powered chain saws reverberated in Florida. The storms arrived virtually without warning, striking after midnight as Floridians slept. "One minute I was lying in bed and the next minute I was flying through the air," said Billy Fisher, 40, of Sanford. A tornado levitated his trailer home.

"Everything started shaking. I felt the whole trailer just lifting up higher and higher." He suffered cuts and bruises. His trailer fared far worse. It was totaled and he had just finished paying it off last Friday. He had yo insurance, but ORANGE COUNTY Three dead; 74 injured; two missing.

In the Winter Garden area, about 100 mobile homes destroyed at Hyde Park Mobile Home Park, where the deaths occurred. Six buildings destroyed and two damaged at Country Gardens Apartment complex. A Red Cross shelter opened at West Orange Elementary School. OSCEOLA COUNTY Twenty-three dead; 148 injured; seven missing. More than $18.5 million to 75 homes, 22 mobile homes, 15 RVs, a strip mall and other businesses, according to Osceola Counfy emergency services spokeswoman Kelly Thomason.

Damage concentrated in the Boggy Creek Road area of Kissimmee and Orange Vista subdivision of Campbell City. Additional damage to 225 homes, 60 apartments and 25 mobile homes. A Red Cross shelter opened at Cypress Creek Elementary School. SEMINOLE COUNTY Eleven dead; about 30 injured, one missing. A total of 166 homes were moderately damaged, including 36 homes and seven mobile homes destroyed in unincorporated Seminole County for a total of $3.3 million damage.

In Winter Springs, 83 homes were damaged for a total of $360,000 damage. A Red Cross shelter opened at Midway Elementary School. VOLUSIA COUNTY One dead; four injured; one missing at Lake Harney. Mark C. Price, 41 of Daytona Beach, was killed by a falling tree, Volusia County emergency management spokesman Don Hendress said.

About $8 million damage to 635 homes, including 180 homes and mobile homes heavily damaged, primarily west of Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach area. Three structures and 19 boats severely damaged at BC Fish Camp. Winds flipped trucks and cars on Interstate 95. A Red Cross shelter opened at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; volunteers served 1 ,200 meals. AP, CHRIS NYE News-Press.