Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 5

DAYTON DAILY NEWS AC WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2002 ASTER THE STORM Storms deal blow to Alabama town We need to draw from each other, residents say JCjl LaTBaBBBaTi' -J NEWS BILL GARL0WDA Storms Van Wert begins cleanup as officials seek government aid CONTINUED FROM Al Wert officials the importance of documenting costs associated with the cleanup in case the city becomes eligible for federal reimbursement. Rick McCoy, director of the Van Wert County Emergency Management Agency, estimated damage to an industrial park on the city's northwest side at $10 million to $20 million. He said the tornado destroyed at least 40 homes in the county and badly damaged at least 50 more. The tornado packed winds of more than 200 mph, and McCoy said personal items, such as checks, were found in Toledo, nearly 100 miles northeast of Van Wert. Mayor Stephen Gehres put the number of local jobs affected by the tornado at nearly 500.

The state had designated the county an economically distressed area before the tornado. Brandon Hundley, 25, of Van Wert said he and his girlfriend, a full-time student, face an uncertain future after the tornado wiped out Teem Wholesalers, where Hundley had a job applying stain to stair parts. "I'm living on about $10," Hundley said. "I'm the only person in the household that has a job right now, and we've got a mortgage and bills on top of that." The county Department of Job and Family Services was CHARLES NESBITTASSOCIATED PRESS JO ANN WELCH, a fourth-grade teacher at Carbon Hill Elementary school in Carbon Hill, sorts through debris in her classroom Tuesday. A tornado destroyed the school on Sunday.

By Jay Reeves Associated Press CARBON HILL, Ala. Fate was trying to kill this old coal mining town decades before a tornado roared through. The mines began closing in the 1950s, and the three sewing plants followed, along with the mobile home factory. The car dealers are gone and so is the high school, which burned down over the summer. And now a 'wave of violent weather that claimed 35 lives in five states saved its deadliest blow for Carbon Hill, killing seven people and severely damaging scores of homes and the remaining elementary school.

The cleanup was well under way Tuesday, but nobody expects Carbon Hill to come back stronger. Just surviving will be enough. "We need to draw from each other," said Leah Bray, a City Council member whose home was destroyed. "If we don't stay together, we'll die." Nearly a third of the town of 2,070 about 70 miles northwest of Birmingham was damaged or destroyed by a twister that struck Sunday as many residents were returning from church. The narrow streets were littered with the splinters of once-towering oaks and bits of pink and yellow insulation.

School officials surveyed the roofless elementary OHIO GOV. BOB TAFT and county Emergency Management Agency Director Rick McCoy speak at Twin Cinema in Van Wert. overwhelmed with phone calls from people seeking unemployment compensation. "We have eight lines, and they're all ringing nonstop," director Jim Beard said. The department will provide disaster relief information and hold an application fair Friday at the county fairgrounds.

OUie Adams said his family hopes to temporarily relocate its business, KAM Manufacturing, and resume production within 30 days, although he said all of its 120 employees probably would not be called back. Adams and his family spent Tuesday salvaging sewing machines from the ruins of his business, which makes handbags. At least 40 members of the National Guard joined state Department of Transportation employees, county engineer workers and city street crews in cleaning up. Crews from cable and utility companies replaced cable and telephone poles. Tuesday afternoon the governor visited Ottawa County, where he also had declared a state of emergency.

school and its crumbling walls, and declared it a total loss. Speaking over the hum of a gas-powered generator on his front porch, Johnny Eads pondered life in Carbon Hill after the storm. He concluded things are only going to get worse. "I've got a grandson in the second grade," he said. "I don't know what he'll do." More than 70 tornadoes and thunderstorms during the weekend and into Monday killed 16 people in Tennessee, 12 in Alabama, five in Ohio, and one each in Mississippi and Pennsylvania.

The weather system responsible for the violent weather showed the entire network may have to be replaced. But the budget is tight and tax revenue has drained away because most residents work in coal mines or mobile home factories in neighboring counties. Gov. Don Siegelman visited and officials from the state and federal emergency agencies were assessing the damage. But more trouble could hit town within two years.

A new four-lane highway will open, and it could drain Carbon Hill of what little life it has by taking cars off U.S. 78, the main road through town. "Carbon Hill is gone," Eads said. it still had power left Tuesday. It spawned a tornado near the southern Georgia town of Mora that leveled a chicken house and injured two people.

Flash flood warnings were issued in parts of eastern North Carolina after 2 inches of rain in 2Vi hours. In tiny Mossy Grove, where five people were killed and half of the 24 homes were destroyed, there was finally some good news: The list of 40 missing people had been reduced to just one Tuesday. In Carbon Hill, underground utility lines were broken and cracked as the tornado uprooted hundreds of trees, and officials fear Property losses from storm may top $20 million in Ohio STORM DAMAGE IN THE STATE Putnam: Two people killed, two injured; four homes destroyed, nine damaged. Sandusky: Two homes uninhabitable, but repairable, six barns destroyed, one camper overturned. Sanaca: One person killed, several injured; nine homes destroyed, 18 damaged; city of Fostoria under water boil advisory.

Summit: Five homes destroyed, 89 damaged. Shelters Macedonia Recreation Center, Twinsburg High School. Union: Two injured; four homes damaged; 1 3 other structures with minor damage. Van Wart: Two people killed, 19 injured; 48 houses and two mobile homes destroyed; 25 dwellings with major damage; 27 with minor damage; four business destroyed and five damaged in Vision Industrial Park; village of Ohio City under water boil advisory. Shelter at Trinity Friends Church.

Wayne: Five houses, five barns and six outbuildings with severe to total loss; seven structures moderately damaged; six with minor damage. Wood: Ten homes destroyed; Jerry City lost its municipal building. Associated Press By Jim Bohman Dayton Daily News COLUMBUS Insured property losses from the tornadoes that killed five in northwest Ohio Sunday are approaching $20 million and are sure to climb, the state's largest carriers reported Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Ohio Insurance Institute says the weekend losses may not push homeowner premiums higher next year, but only because rates already were raised to reimburse carriers for earlier storm damage. The average homeowner insurance bill climbed 16 percent this year because of storms such as the 2000 Xenia tornado, said Ohio Insurance Institute spokeswoman Mary Bonelli.

The various homeowner insurance companies plan rate increases averaging an additional 9.5 percent for 2003. Part of that rate increase is to pay for the $90 million in losses from the hail storm last year that damaged roofs, awnings and vehicles in a wide area of Kettering, Bonelli said. State Farm Insurance, the largest carrier in Ohio, has received 1,310 claims so far after Sunday's storm that hit Van Wert and elsewhere. The insurance company expects 3,200 claims for Ohio with losses of $17 million, said spokesman Brian Maze. Maze said the cold front Sunday generated "one big storm," but he said the losses are in line with expectations.

Columbus-based Nationwide Insurance, another large carrier, said it received about 200 claims so far with estimated losses of $2.1 million. "We expect more," spokesman Bob Cunningham said. Loss estimates from more than three dozen property and casualty carriers operating in Ohio are expected Monday, Bonelli said. The Ohio Emergency Management Agency reports that several dozen people were injured in the windstorms that swept through 17 How Sunday's storms affected Ohio counties: Ashland: Five homes destroyed, 50 damaged; about 20 barns destroyed. Cuyahoga: Seven homes with major damage, 48 with minor damage.

Franklin: Two homes with major hail damage, more than 500 with minor damage. Hancock: More than 45 homes and two businesses damaged; one rail car overturned, most damage in county's portion of city of Fostoria. Henry: Rail cars knocked off tracks; minor damage to homes. Lorain: Roof blown off school, 29 homes damaged. Medina: Seven homes damaged.

Ottawa: At least 33 homes destroyed, 30 with major damage and 69 with minor damage; windows shattered at Magruder Memorial Hospital; schools remained closed Tuesday for safety. Assistance from the Ohio National Guard requested for debris removal. Shelter at Danbury High School. Paulding: Twenty-three dwellings, one church and 32 barns destroyed; 19 homes and five barns damaged. Sources: Ohio Emergency Management Agency, American Red Cross of Ohio, county sheriffs' and emergency management offices.

counties but were severe in Van Wert, Seneca and Paulding counties, where the fatalities occurred. More than 1,000 homes and other structures were damaged and 109 were destroyed. The count so far is 123 structures with major damage, said agency JCPenney spokesman Dick Kimmins. Bonelli said homeowners facing higher insurance costs might be comforted knowingOhio has some of the lowest rates in the nation. Contact Jim Bohman at 225-2242 or jimbohmancoxohio.com Offers effective through 1203 on regular-priced merchandise only.

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