The Jackson Sun from Jackson, Tennessee • 3

STORMS RAKE WEST TENNESSEE Monday, Jan. 16, 1999 The Jackson SunPage 3A "When daybreak comes, you'll see things youVe never seen before in Madison County." John Scofield of Jackson Utility Division (51 TB nimii lri i ifi By JACQUE HILLMAN, ANDY HENION and TODD KLEFFMAN The Jackson Sun Gerlene Morrow, standing in the Orchard Hill subdivision after a tornado destroyed most of it Sunday evening, summed up the feelings of her neighbors in Southeast Madison County. "Oh lord," Morrow said, "everything's gone back there." The destruction wrought by the two tornadoes that ripped through Madison County was widespread. Homes were flattened, cars "were overturned. Hollywood Shopping Center and nearby apartments in Jackson sustained extensive damage.

The "National Guard hangar at the airport is gone and two helicopters destroyed. Orchard Hill, which has about 100 homes, was one of (the hardest-hit areas, with bout 40 homes damaged, said Raymond Via of the "Madison County Emergency 'Management Agency. There were "multiple" critical injuries in the subdivision, but there were no confirmed fatalities late Sunday night, sheriff's department officials said. One of the injured in Orchard Hill was Karen Blan-ton, widow of former Gov. Ray Blanton.

Her condition was not available. Morrow and more than 50 'neighbors huddled at the entrance of the subdivision, 'many crying and calling for their loved ones who had not been found in the wreckage. Mildred Wagster, whose Charles Latham Drive home was flattened, wandered the street in a daze as her husband looked for their dog. The Wagsters came back from visiting friends to find their house "gone." "It was totally destroyed," Wagster said Morrow was in her home with her daughter and her daughter's friend when she heard the "train sound" coming at them. "Honey, when I heard that noise I told the girls and as soon as we stepped into the bathroom, everything started caving in." Similar disaster struck in the Hollywood area.

Dan Vaughn, director of Emergency Management Agency, said, "Hollywood Shopping Center is in bad shape and the apartments nearby, but we don't know of any injuries there." On Hollywood Boulevard and Russell Road, the tornado ripped the roof off Imperial Court Apartments and damaged several homes on Russell. "We were in the kitchen looking for candles when I heard this big huge roar and I yelled 'Everyone in the bath- nun i i ii i-nnn i mi Mm ii (ii HELEN COMERThe Jackson Sun after area storm damage. BELOW: Debris covers a bridge in South Jackson. 1 1 Hospitals treat area's injured CHRIS STANFIELDThe Jackson Sun fie ki ABOVE: A man is brought out room but before we could get there Boom! It said Douglas Lonon, whose home at 21 Russell Road was damaged, but whose family was unhurt. Lonon and several other residents of the neighborhood said a warning siren located on a nearby utility pole did "I heard something that sounded like a train," Fuller said.

"Something said to me -like I was in school to get down. Soon as I got down, the debris came over me." The debris fell over his desk and chairs so he was not hit with the full force of the walls. Fuller seemed in good spirits after escaping from the rubble. Fuller, a graduate of the now-defunct West High School; crawled through a hole about two feet wide and crawled four to five feet to the back of the building and outside. When he got out, Fuller saw fences off their poles and other damage.

He said the forceful winds lasted about five minutes. Fuller said he called his children in Jackson Porchia Kirby, 26, Tondra Fuller, 24, and Maka Fuller, 20 and they even had trouble envisioning their father's frightful experience. "They were in disbelief," Fuller said. Fuller said he plans to rebuild his church. the National Guard hangar." On U.S.

70, police cars and concerned business people were driving slowly, checking for damage. Steel utility poles were lying in the trees in the Cypress Grove Nature Park area with debris hanging from the trees. "When daybreak comes, By KATHY D. THOMAS The Jackson Sun More than 70 people were treated for injuries sustained in Sunday's thunderstorms, which killed nine in West Tennessee. Eleven people were in critical condition late Sunday night at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, hospital officials said.

At least two tornadoes touched down in Jackson-Madison County. Thunderstorms rolled in after 6 p.m. More than 250 extra Jackson General staff members were called in to handle the emergency. The hospital had treated 71 people late Sunday. "Everyone has been very cooperative in coming back into work," said Jan Boud, director of marketing and public relations at the hospital.

"People were willing to do whatever was needed." I ft Iff-) i- Ji' It of the Orchard Hill subdivision not sound. "The siren didn't go off, I dont know why, but I'm mad," Lonon said. "We had no time to get ready." Sgt. Ron Adams, helicopter pilot for Jackson Police Department, was at McKel-lar-Sipes Regional Airport when the storm hit. Adams said, "We saw the roof fly off :8 1 1 Pastor had no idea what was coming At the hospital, the nurses, reported to the J.

Walter Conference Center to get-their assignments. Doctors-reported in and went to work where they were need ed. Other staffers worked with patients and families in the crisis center. "The response from the doctors was great," she said. "More than 40 reported for" duty.

We had to send 10 back home." The hospital was operating on emergency power for-more than three hours because of power outages in the area. Hospital officials said the generators can run for two days. At Methodist Le Bon-heur in Jackson, emergency room traffic was normal for a Sunday night, according to Fran Whitehead, emer-i gency room supervisor. i 3 CHRIS STANFIELDThe Jackson Sun youll see things you've never seen before in Madison County," predicted John Scofield of Jackson Utility Division. They have called in additional teams from outlying areas to help in restoring electricity, but there are no firm estimates on when the hardest hit areas will be restored.

"ww.vw.-t- survey the damage. By DUANE RANKIN The Jackson Sun Even when it seemed inevitable that a tornado was approaching, Pastor C.R. Fuller of Jackson had no idea his Friendly Oak Grove Baptist Church was in its path. "And even after escaping the rubble and debris that fell upon him in his office and seeing the devastated area idutside, he still wondered what smashed his church of 26 years to pieces. "It still hasn't dawned on 'me what has happened," Fuller said late Sunday.

"It's a miracle to be here. The hole crawled through was just big enough." About 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Fuller was changing clothes in his church office on 1883 Westover Road. He looked outside and saw the jnevitable. He said some-tiding told him to get down.

-So without thinking, Fuller, 51, fell to the floor and in mere seconds the side and back walls of the room collapsed. He was not in the church more than 15 minutes before it happened. I (ti'Afi'i www I. p. V- -v twwti.

sJAtt Residents at the Brookfletd apartment complex on Hollywood Drive i.