The Amarillo Globe-Times from Amarillo, Texas • Page 35

Nearly 1 9 000 Hurt I rnado Katnpage Tri-State Edition AMARILLO GLOBE-TIMES 44-Bloek Area Devastated Damage Over $50 Million By KEN BRODNAX Staff Writer 47th o. JJ4 if Sccliwnx JO Cents Ainsirillo. IVxas. Mav acia i brick from exterior of (he i Gas Co. and First a i a Bank i i in VJondsv i os a as a dozen cars parked below.

It a worst storm in Lub- wos by Mayer bock's Slam' died, 1 i and the business district was laid in ruin. Damages may James Granberry who called -S50 million." "massive-- iusf massive." Two of fhe cify's largest hospitals hod to turn away cur and bleeding portents after the hospital corridors began filling with cots, stretchers and makeshift beds. The twisters first struck near the Texas Tech campus, levelling a brick wall which crushed a line of parked cars. as a a seconds, the jV rrush ed downiown Lubbock where the towering 20-story i i i i a plaias xational'Llfe Insur- StOKC-S. 19, 12.

157o LUBBOCK--This tornado-ravaged city counted 26 dead, nearly 1,000 injured and 44 blocks in ruins this morning from twisting tornadoes packed with hurricane gales that swooped down about 10 p.m. Monday. One observer said it looked as though a bomb had hit this South Plains city. Earliest reports this morning revealed damages in excess of S50 million as a battalion of rescue workers moved into the devastated city in search of additional injured and dead. At least two tornadoes and winds clocked at more than TOO miles an hour smashed without warning through downtown Lubbock and a northern residential section shortly before 10 p.m.

Residents met the dawn this morning in a state of shock. Streets were blocked by tons of debris, downed utility poles and crumpled cars in a northeastern section of town where most of the dead were counted. A dozen in the 5200,000 price bracket were a i northern Country Club Addition of Lubbock. More than TOO planes parked at the airport were damaged or destroyed. The tornado touched down at 19th and Avenue 9, then spread out into a 2 mile swath as additional "finger" twisters moved moved at 100 miles per hour northeastward the city.

A a of emergency a i i lad i i havonets Bv a A Okla. The hodie.s of an A a i hk sirl I'nivor-'ity 0 a a were in the trunk of a blood-spat- ic'-ed about three miles west of here a The victims were identified as David Sloan. 21, a "radnate of Amarillo Hi.irh Sr'nooi. and Sheryl a li). of City.

Sloan is the son of Mrs, Genovicve Sloan of 2S1 S. Bowie in A a i i The stiidiMHs had beaten anl shot several times. A spokesman at the Norman Police Department said this morning a there were no suspects. He nrldrd investigation 's swins today. Agents of the Oklahoma Crime Bureau and Cleveland Connty sheriff's office joined the search for a killer.

THE WEATHER AMARILLO AND VICINITY: Slifjht eftiTUc of a'ternocn OFW nipnttime otherwise ixirtlv lonely throw" wcdncwav. Hlqti indov iow "JOs. Low tonls'it uoiw High Wednesday unpC'" SO 1 southerly a m.p.ti.. occcrtiortolly aiji'v. Probo'litv oi rnin 20 por cm! this nfternoon, 20 pc" cent tonioM arid tiff crnt Wrrtncvinv.

The low Ihi', MOrnino wos (i2; hlph V.onrJov wo- '7 SUNSET TODAY'. 8.JI. SUMRIE WEDNESDAY- BUSHLAND: Soil tcmpero'wfr at 1 In- of 6 mrhoi, ftfi. From ihe U.S. Wcatfwr Burenu.

senior in a i i a i Miss Bi'Tiham were a seen at i p.m. a a they left a Sigma Alpha Epsilon a i a on the i i campus. Sheriff' Bill Porter said Charles II a in who operates dairy a of here, reported ihe bloody car a near in the wooded area of bis a atiou'. i p.m. Tnvrstigatinc officers said the was nude except for a a wrapped a hor legs.

The young a body was fully Autopsies were i ri performed late by a a medical i the University i a i Oklahoma City. The weapon nraivrf to have boon a i a i reported. Miss Benham is the da lighter if Mr, and Mrs. VV. G.

iicnham of a a City- Sloan was attending the University of a a on a i tennis scholarship and an Georgia advanced cadet in the a a Kest-rve Officers Training Corps. would a a a later this month. lie was in North Hollywood. Calif, and came to Amarilio in 1050. lit- was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Amarillo.

His survivors include his mother, one sister. Sharon, and one broiler, John, all of the a i home. Building reded under the i il- devastating import. i i I.IT. Ync building was roped off early today as cracks appear- in we city, cd (he massive structure which and t'ni- recent years had become a Si'tir! had treated ko! 'i progress in downtown Lubbock.

Rescue workers said this morning that they feared the building might crumble. Nearly a. 1 of the winriowpanes were smashed. Brick lattice work on rjie First National Bank Building in down- ss rj apart said the of and crushed three cars as the. uM easily inio fell to the streets.

"We've sot The tornadoes cut a swath 8 ail over the niilrs and 2 miles wide. Nearly every downtown busi- no-s building sustained damage, nrox-'- out alter a Tho bock Ava i anche Journal: rough the Building was damaged heavily as' coded at the he winds ripped portions of" the; i i a buiJdia.s and roof from the section the; ipperi down a editorial department. One news-; there and burned rnan. Tanner Lane, broke a a- the newsmen fled for Today's edition of the Lubbock I Avalanche was printed at the; Arnariiln Globe-News plant. then shipped bv truck hack to LubbocJi iiiiiii Path of destruction Sketch by GEORGE 8-mile swath across the div of Lubbock.

'SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN AMAJRILLO' Man Returns to Lubbock Just in Time for Tornado the i a had Iven The entire city went into total in rued i darkness when al! of the Hectri- Sheriff Atkins said the a cfnvor wore smashed to Sarr.mv Parks. IT and round a ains worc ir-o" 'l was' a residents were 1 a i on an state of accordance with lvatcr a wn brok ieat OatroaR with and knocked! Thc Bei! Telephone Svsspm had moved nearly 400 repairmen into (Sec TORNADO--Page S) nadi Partial List Of Dead Is of Phonrs By JIM SIMS Staff Writer LUBBOCK An elevator shaft may not be the best place to experience a tornado and that goes double when the elevator is falling three stories. But that was the only alternative fo reight computer programmers at the First National Bank Monday night. Kenny Sims, 23. gave his account of the harrowing experience by phone early today.

He had been visiting in Amarillo during the -weekend and left the city at p.m. Monday to report for the 10 p.m. shift in Lubock. Members of the day's sec- Amarillo." was Sims' first comment. Members of the day's second and third shift were in the sixth story office watching the storm before the first of two tornadoes ravaged the downtown area.

"We saw lights going out all over town and one of the both of his ankles broken but he was the only one hurt." Sims and two others got out on the first floor to survey the damage while the others found the elevator working again and continued to the basement. That was wiien a second tornado hit. "My roommate. i Jackson, a Texas Tech student Jackshoroi had raincoat. I wasn't hurt but the other two boys were cut by flying glass." "When it stopped, paper and glass was all over the floor and chairs and tables had gone through windows.

In our office, the day's checks we Had been processing were everywhere. "Outside, we. found portions of beams on top of cars given me a real heavy rair- and some cars on top of other coat to wear, I fell down in cars. My car and a the middle of the floor and covered myself with the ELEVATOR on Page 14) Twister Came Calling While Cheryl Was Out Kftween and lii.OOft partial list compiled by the Tex-! guys noticed a sudden flash Soiithwosio.ru Bell Telephone. 1S Department of Public Safety; of light like an electrical Chuck AHSlote ins.

"355T6TT" S1IEKYL LYNN BEN1IAM II DAVID i Co. telephones were out of service, in Lubbock early this morning, said David Dillard of A a i district a a for Although several windows v.rn blown in at the Porter- Sherwood Switching Building in the 1100 block of Main Street, Dillard said there was no a a to Ihe equipment. Bell crews were dispatched from Amarillo about 1.1 p.m. Monday to begin restoration of service lines. Dillard also said two miles of toll cable were downed north of Lubbock.

The Porter-Sherwood facility is located between the Pioneer a a Gas Co. office and the Plains Insurance Building, Dillard said. the dead in Lhe Luhbock Mon- night: 1. Unidentified white a 2. Thomas Andrew Cook, no 3.

Mrs. Henry Short, no age, 4. Frank Moreno Canales Jr. no age. 5.

Jose Aguilar. no age. 6. Salvador Txpez, no age. 7.

Jack Lopez, no age. 8. Kenneth Medlin, no age. 9. Mary Jean Medlin.

no age. 10. Alan Ray Medlin, no age. l.i. Dusty Medlin, no age.

12. Knight, no age. 13. Unidentified white female, 65. 14.

Oleta Gortfales, 44. In, S.C. Glenn, no age. 16, John Stephen. Cox, no age.

17. Mrs. Butts, no age. flash. It might have been a high-line pole falling down." "AH at once, the wind started bibrating everything and windows began rattling hard.

We headed for the elevator arid the tile partitions on the celling began coming down on us and the windows blew out." "Oxir were popping real hard, but when we got in the elevator, it felt like our ears were plugged. We tried to make it to the basement LUBBOCK Clayton. 19-year-old resident of the University Arms Apartments, thought it was a good time to go visiting Monday night. After tornadoes hit the city at approximately p.m., she. was sure of it.

"If I had been in my apartment, I probably would have been one of the fatalities," reported Cheryl by phone early this morning. Cheryl was visiting a friend in a first-floor apartment, about a half-block from her dwelling at the University Arms, three buildings of apartments just east of Jones Stadium and the Texas Tech hut the elevator stopped on ca(m US- My apartment, which is on the second floor, was a mess. All of the brick on the side had been pushed out, and only the sheetrock remained. I pro. bahly would have been dead Auto puWfc liability, prooertv domoqcI if a A i insurance, Wiltioms-Boyct, 37WH7.

I I Had been there. One 01 the fourth floor and then dropped to the first floor." "I hit on top of the boy beside me and wasn't hurt. It looked like one boy had the walkways nearby on the second floor was caved in and the guard rail was blown away. Cheryl and three friends were on the bathroom floor of the bathroom when the toniado hit. "It wasn't easy for all of to get on the bathroom floor but we did it." Cheryl recalled with a thankful laugh.

Cheryl couldn't help but be a little shaky when she viewed the remains of her apartment while wondering what might have happened if she and the tornado had been there at the same time. "It didn't seem like the damage was near as had where we were at my friend's apartment," added Cheryl. Tt was her first tornado and she didn't have tny doubts about hoping it was also her last. Ncelv-Lowwei 1.