The Daily Spectrum from Saint George, Utah • 9

SALT LAKE CITY TORNADO The Spectrum Thursday, August 12, 1999 A9 Salt Lake City tornado a disaster for some, spectator event for others 1ST, By TIM KORTE Associated Press 5 Don Grayston AP SALT LAKE CITY Broken glass and tree limbs were scattered everywhere after a tornado hit downtown Salt Lake. So were gawking streetwalkers and police officers using bullhorns to herd the curious from danger zones. The freak twister that struck Wednesday not only overturned trucks, ripped away roofs and dropped power lines, it also brought out hordes of stunned spectators and thrill seekers. "I've always hoped to experience two events, an earthquake and a tornado, as long as I could live through them," said Robert Stock of Toronto, in town for an retailers convention. Stock got his wish, and apparently he wasn't alone.

Moments after the twister's rampage, the streets filled with people, some wearing business suits, others in sandals and sunglasses. Rather than seek shelter, downtown workers on their way back from lunch formed semicircles on street corners, their mouths agape in heavy rain as they watched the hypnotic swirl of the receding funnel. "For Salt Lake City, this is unprecedented. We've never had Police and emergency vehicles stand on a more than 100 people were injured. The torna- street next to damaged temporary tents and do also damaged the roofs of the Delta Center, buildings after a tornado hit Salt Lake City on home of the Utah Jazz, and the Salt Palace Wednesday.

At least one person was killed and Convention Center. GaryMcKellarAP A house in the Upper Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, lost its entire roof as a rare and sudden tornado swept through the city Wednesday. President Clinton expresses concern Associated Press vendor from Sudbury, Mass. Meanwhile, officers put up yellow crime scene tape to block off stieets, only to have crowds cascade under it. Trespassers were met by frustrated officers who chased them back.

"We need everyone to move up the street because of a possible gas leak inside this building," an officer yelled outside the Salt Palace Convention Center, repeating the mantra nearly every minute. anything like this," said Richard E. Davis, president and chief executive of the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau. While firefighters tended to the injured, tourists filmed with video cameras. Convention exhibitors chattered into their cell phones, trying to locate colleagues or describing the scene for friends elsewhere.

"This is amazing. I never thought I'd see a tornado, least of all in Utah," said David Gross, a talked by phone with Governor Leavitt. The burden of recovery will be heavy, but it is a burden that the people of Salt Lake City need not carry alone. As they begin the difficult process-of mourning, healing and rebuilding, our nation stands steadfastly behind them. through their city this afternoon.

I was particularly saddened to learn that the tornado left at least one person dead and dozens injured. "Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are already on the ground. More officials are en route, and FEMA Director James Lee Witt has SALT LAKE CITY Here is a statement by President Clinton on Wednesday's tornado: "I want to express my concern for the people of Salt Lake City, who are suffering the effects of a devastating tornado that tore ners to watch as the funnel passed northeast over the Mormon church's Salt Lake Temple, which was not damaged. Church spokesman Mike Otter-son said two people were injured on a construction project at the church Assembly Hall on Temple Square directly south of the Mormon Tabernacle and a construction crane fell. The famed square was closed.

Heavy hail the size of marbles preceded and followed the tornado. National Weather Service meteorologist David Hogan said just west of downtown, moved northeast through the business center and up past the state capitol, where trees were uprooted and a window shattered. Power, which had 18 repair crews at work. Salt Lake County Sheriffs Lt. Jim Potter said there was some looting in the immediate aftermath of the tornado.

"The problem was you had a lot of cars with blown out windows and it was easy to reach in and take things," he said. At dark, police closed the upscale Avenues neighborhood, the hardest-hit residential area, to nonresidents. At the Salt Lake International Airport, a few miles west of the heaviest damage, Delta Air Lines diverted seven flights, according to airport spokesman Barbara Gann. SkyWest Airlines and Southwest Airlines also diverted flights. Crowds gathered on street cor through the door.

"There was lots of thunder and wind. The roof opened and it ripped off a door. It was over in 1 5 or 20 seconds but it seemed like a lot longer than that. Everything was shaking and shaking." John Dwan, spokesman for University of Utah Medical Center, said the hospital implemented its "mass casualty plan," something he had never seen in 25 years. Lightning struck LDS Hospital, causing a loss of some communications, spokesman Don Woodbury said.

"The emergency room is very busy and we don't have much more than that." The tornado knocked out power to 20,000 customers in downtown Salt Lake City, according to Utah Robert Stock of Toronto, a sales representative for a rock-climbing company, said he saw the roof of the Delta Center lift up when the tornado passed over. "It peeled it right back, just like an orange peel," he said. "It's unbelievable," said Utah Jazz spokesman Evan Silverman. He said parts of the Delta Center roof were ripped off and "there were patches where you can see the sky." He said no Jazz or Delta Center employees were injured, even though most of the glass windows on the upper level were blown out. David Gross, an exhibitor from Sudbury, was inside the Salt Palace, watching what looked like billowing black smoke around the huge outdoor tent housing the convention.

"I helped one guy who had a beam fall on him. His knees were buckled under his chest. It just crushed him," Groff said. He said he could not detect a pulse as others tried to lift the beam. Gary Morgan of Vancouver, was setting up a booth at the retailers convention, where 15 percent to 20 percent of the exhibits were destroyed.

"The building just started to flutter, then it became more intense until the structures were coming down and things were just flying through," Morgan said, adding that at least a dozen people he saw were bleeding. TORNADO Continued from Al like a disaster zone with trucks overturned, power lines down, windows blown out, shards of glass everywhere, and police and firefighters attending to dozens of injured. Helicopters landed in city streets to ferry the injured to hospitals. Among the hardest hit were exhibitors in town for the Outdoor Retailers Summer Market scheduled to start Thursday at the Salt Palace. The event has been put off until Friday.

Conventioneer Dan Groff of San Diego said he saw several badly injured people in the area ovsummerw esrssaie tmgr III All this week, save 50-65 on summer essentials 29 Allen Weed AP Utah Power worker Jerry Powell talks on a cell phone in front of the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Wednesday. A tornado damaged the roof of the Delta Center, home of the Utah Jazz basketball team. The funnel cloud tossed trucks and trees around and shredded tents set up for a convention. Name brand sportshirts Knit and woven short-sleeved sportshirts in solid colors, plaids and prints; S-XXL. reg.

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reg. S30-S33. SALE 10.99 All clothing shown is available in Men's Better Sportswear at ZCMI. it lr yJ I Later, they noticed a tree that had been between them was uprooted. "I guess we picked the right trees," Ellenwood said.

The twister turned, moving up South Temple street, where its progress was marked by a series of exploding transformers atop power poles. "It came up the road and blew them out, one at a time," Stock said. "It was a horrifying and spectacular sight." Afterward, hundreds of people filled the streets, some curious, others frantic. Other than scrapes on their legs and necks, Ellenwood and Loyola said they were fine. About 20 minutes later, police officers used bullhorns to herd people from the area, warning of a possible gas leak at the Salt Palace Convention Center.

Yann Fillion of Montreal, a shirt vendor, shuffled with the throng up the street, his arm in a sling. He suffered a dislocated shoulder while sheltering a woman near a trailer. Fillion said he was offered treatment at a triage area but refused. "It's too disgusting in there. There's just blood everywhere.

WRECKAGE Continued from Al plastic. As Ellenwood worked, others ran through and warned of the approaching storm. "I've heard you're not supposed to go outside during a tornado, but there was no way I wanted to stay in that tent," Ellenwood said. "I looked over to the Wyndham Hotel, and that's when I saw it." The twister, black and massive, swooped in from the southwest, initially damaging the roof of the Delta Center, a arena that is home to the NBA's Utah Jazz. "It peeled it (the roof) right back, just like an orange peel," said another witness, Robert Stock of Toronto.

Then it blew out dozens of windows at the hotel. Ellenwood said the twister "looked like a big swirling dust cloud, with big doors and debris flying around inside." His heart raced at the sound, a low rumbling, "like a freight train." Ellenwood and his partner, Daren Loyola, looked for a place to hide. "I thought, 'This is it. We're going to Loyola said. "I thought about my wife and my daughter.

I tried to run, but the wind was so strong that I felt like I was going nowhere." They struggled to separate trees, where each clutched tight- ly' "At one point, my feet were off the ground," Ellenwood said, his eyes widening at the memory. pfe fir 'iff, I ZCMI Ifs all here Have local news delivered to your front door Call the circulation desk (435) 674-6212 in St. George; (435) 586-6999 in Cedar City. Shop all stores Monday through Saturday 1 0 A.M.-9 pjl (except Salt Lake Downtown and ZCMI Foothu: Saturday 1 0 A.M.-7 p.m. and St.

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