The Times and Democrat from Orangeburg, South Carolina • 7

NationWorld Orangeburg, S.C., Sunday, August 8, 1993, Page 7A Agriculture secretary visits as residents reclaim town 'i nvv. emorrat i 7. 1 1 i- 1 I is flying. They can peer out over the levee and see the roofs of farmhouses and grain silos sticking out of the water in the distance. At a grade school, federal officials heard from local leaders from a seven-county area who reported being besieged by homeowners demanding to know when they could return to their houses and if it would be worth it to rebuild.

"We're going to try to solve these temporary problems and get you through this as best as we can," Gephardt said. "We're also going to look at the long term for the upper Mississippi River Valley." Espy said a disaster package passed by Congress on Friday gave his department $2.7 billion for disaster claim payments, and he promised to have checks in farmers' hands within two weeks of receiving the applications. "It was nice to hear we're going to get some federal and state support," said Wayne Reinking, superintendent of the Prairie Du Rocher school district. Prairie Du Rocher officially has been evacuated. But residents are allowed to come back to check on their property.

Village Trustee Robbie Aubuchon said officials were recommending against anyone bringing furniture back to their homes because the city is still far from safe. By FRANK FISHER Associated Press Writer PRAIRIE DU ROCHER, HI. Federal officials toured fioodstricken areas of southern Illinois on Saturday, seeking to assure residents their pleas for help will be answered. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy; Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Lee Witt; Rep. Richard Gephardt, and Rep.

Jerry Costello, flew into this Mississippi River town in an Army helicopter after flying over Costello's district. "This is a tremendous disaster," Espy said' after meeting with local officials. "In fact it has moved beyond the category of disaster, it is now a catastrophe." In Prairie Du Rocher, settled by the French in 1722, officials found a community struggling against the odds and apparently winning. A gamble early last week to dynamite a Mississippi River levee three miles northwest of town in order to drain off the floodwaters appeared to have paid off. The water level had fallen about 5 feet since Tuesday morning when water was seeping under the main levee north of this town of 540 residents.

Despite police orders to stay away, tourists were visiting the levee at a spot where a U.S. flag Old Town damage Firefighters and rescue personnel sort through the rubble of the Old Towne area of downtown Petersburg, after a tornado swept through the area Friday afternoon. (AP Photo) Authorities: Victims of tornado were trying to get out of store Russia, Central Asian states send more troops to Tajikistan By SERGEI SHARGORODSKY Associated Press Writer MOSCOW President Boris Yeltsin and Central Asian leaders decided Saturday to send more troops to Tajikistan and warned Afghanistan they would take military action to stop cross-border raids by Islamic rebels. Troop reinforcements from Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan would be sent to Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan, the site of recent raids by anti-government rebels backed by Afghan muj ahadeen. ing across Central Asia.

Russia backs Tajikistan's government of former Communists, who ousted a loose, coalition of democrats and Islamic fundamentalists in a civil war. About 20,000 people died and at least 500,000 were driven from their homes. Many anti-government fighters fled to Afghanistan, where they found support from the muj ahadeen. Russia assumed a more active role in the fighting after losing at least 25 soldiers in a July 13 border clash with Islamic rebels. It has already sent several thousand troops in Tajikistan and is building border fortifications.

Central ple were killed by an Albemarle County twister. The state's last tornado, in 1989, killed two people in the Shenandoah Valley. Friday's dead were identified as Wal-Mart employees Cheryl Diane Weisheim, 40, and Carolyn Gunn, 48; customer Mae Prosise, 57; and Morris Gupton 28, the Prince George County victim. Most of the injured where taken to Southside Regional Medical Center. Seventeen people were admitted, and one remained in serious condition Saturday.

Injuries ranged from broken bones to head and neck problems. The storm also injured at least 30 people in Petersburg and ravaged the city's historic Old Towne district. Damage in the city was estimated at $10 million. The tornado was packing winds of 210 mph when it struck Petersburg, meteorologist Jim Belville of the National Weather Service in Rockville, said. The winds had diminished to 125 mph by the time the twister hit the Wal-Mart.

The funnel then crossed the James River at the Va-rina-Enon Bridge near Hopewell, where a wave of water and wind knocked several tractor-trailers over like toys. Three members of Virginia's congressional delegation promised Saturday to seek federal disaster aid for hard-hit localities. Petersburg Mayor Rosalyn Dance said a tornado warning came several minutes after the twister struck, but that officials weren't blaming the National Weather Service. By HEIDI NOLTE BROWN Associated Press Writer COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. The three people killed when a tornado slammed into a darkened department store were heading for the front doors when the twister hit, authorities said Saturday.

They were in the process of coming out of the store because the power was out," Colonial Heights police Capt. Larry E. Williams said. The tornado hit the front of the store first, cutting a swath 40 to 50 feet wide. A fourth person was killed when the storm hit a Prince George County construction site Friday.

Williams said everyone known to be in the Wal-Mart store had been accounted for Saturday. Nevertheless, workers planned to resume their search through the rubble after engineers stabilized walls and ceilings. What remained of the store's front wall teetered precariously toward the building's ravaged interior. Fearing that people could have been swept out of the building by the ferocious winds, authorities also searched a brushy area around a lake behind the store but found nothing. "It was so quick, probably nobody had time to do anything," said Robert L.

Bohannon, a police chaplain who counseled many of the 119 who were injured in the store. The people in the store were among 170 hurt when twisters slashed through several "Virginia localities Friday. Tornadoes rarely strike Virginia, and Friday's was the deadliest to hit the state since 1959, when 10 peo yes1, please1, me! now! yes i yes) nodes' If armed attacks from outside continue, adequate response measures will be taken to prevent them," the leaders said in a statement, that also appealed for a U.N. Security Council session on the conflict. President Islam Ka-rimov of Uzbekistan told reporters after the summit that Tajik leader Emomali Rakhmonov has agreed to start talks with Afghanistan.

The three-hour Kremlin summit was held because of mounting concern about militant Islamic fundamentalism taking root in Tajikistan and spread Heating and Cooling State Licensed Quality Dealer 100 Financing, Nofhina Down Low Payments Always: WHEN IT COMES TO ENERGY HERE ARE A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND. The section where von realize that fluorescent lights last three times longer than regular lilithull's. Where yon add up the $275 get from trading in your inefficient cooling system. Where von remember that recvcling reduces landfills tind preserves our natural resources This area lets' you taste the difference in food cooked over the even temperature of natural gas. The area where you sense the drafts that flow under your doors and Where you see that security lights make your honu more attractive and secure.

3S? KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. Contrary to popular belief, there's more home. It's the power to cut your water we're constantly working to dis- more information on energy related topics, to energy than adjusting the thermostat cover more efficient ways to use it. just give us a call at 1-800-888-SCEG. heating costs in half with natural gas.

And it's the power to help protect the environment. Of course, we can never know enough about energy. But, at and paying your bill. You see, when it comes to energy, knowledge is power. It's the power to save thousands of dollars down the road with a Good Cents And when we do, you'll be the next to know.

Take a minute and learn the facts about energy. If you would like Remember, the more we know about energy, the easier and more comfortable our lives will be. And that's something we should all keep in mind. A Company.