Gazette News-Current from Xenia, Ohio • Page 3

GAZETTE Thursday, April 4,1974 The Xenia Gazette Page 3 By Rich Heiland Xenia Gazette Writer I will cry a hundred years from now, no matter how many memories come and go, when 1 think of what this wind did to my city and its people. Yes, my city, now more than, ever, though I have absolutely nothing left to my existence here except the most important thing of all life. My life, the lives of my children and my wife. We should all be dead today, as, sadly, too many are. But we are alive, and 'We should all be dead' we will be back, and we will survive, as will my city, our city, your city.

It was terror, a time when people, myself included, did things that today will make us vomit and tremble when we recall them. SOMETHING funny hit me moments before tornado hit yesterday, something funny that made me call my wife and tell her to lie down in the only protected part of our Arrowhead home, only 75 yards from shell that was Warner Junior High School. Not more than 10 seconds later we heard a sheriff's deputy scream over his radio "Twister by the bypass and 42." For some reason (we had just told each other we'd never do something like that) Randy Blackaby and I grabbed a camera and ran down Second Street to his car. We thought (he twister was on the edge of town. My God, how wrong we were.

At the Five Points intersection I got out of the car and looked almost straight up at the funnel, swirling with dead birds and debris as it neared St. Brigid Church, which it ripped. and killed like a demon that had waited 2,000 years for a victory. We got back to the car, the roar around us, and escaped the path of the funnel, somehow. Our first thoughts were to be newsmen, find out what happened and fast.

I copped out, failed, I guess. AS SOON as we got near Cincinnati Avenue, I knew. It had hit my house. There was no way it could have missed. We circled around on the by-pass, trying to get to Arrowhead.

No luck. I finally found a boy, the son of Tom McCatherine, our associate, editor, to show me a shortcut behind Warner Junior High. When I rounded the corner, I just thought, "No, God, no. Don't go any farther, remember them like they were." The house was destroyed. A couple of walls standing, the rest caved in.

No one could have lived through it. But, like a ray of sunshine out of the most terrible sky to ever cover Xenia, came my wife's voice, and I never knew just how much I loved her and my 6-week- old son and 5-year old daughter, who were untouched. Our only casualty is the a i a Pinscher, a gentle dog named Baron whom I think escaped. I pray someone will return him to us. After I rushed the family down to my parents' home in Wilmington, I came back to begin an all-night grind with hundreds of other people trying to help.

moments of beauty in terms of human sacrifice: --Men straining to lift fallen timbers off bodies that'might still have life in them; --Bob Stewart, Xenia's city manager with only half a city, taking charge of a massive rescue and cleanup operation, and not knowing until the early morning hours if his family was alive, or dead; throwing open its doors and coffee pots to anyone in need of a drink and a donut. By the time the sun came up, it was apparent what the wind had done, and I hate it for it. But we are alive, most of us, although many of us are homeless and must now dig through the wreckage of our dreams for bits of furniture, mementos such as a family photo album. And dig we will. And survive we will, dammit.

Devastation roared into Xenia at 4:40 By Delores Fisher Daily Gazette Associate Editor The devastation has been likened to World War II saturation bombing. Xenia was i a wiped off the map at 4:40 p.m. yesterday. As were most of its industries and most of its schools. All but about two a leveled, a i food supplies questionable.

Perishables left in those still standing have spoiled. The city's perimeters were cordoned off, leaving many Xenians stranded as far as five miles from town. They parked and walked to their homes or what was left of them. At 1 a.m. today there still were distraught parents walking anxiously through Ihe downtown area looking for their children.

And there still were some teenagers a i the streets, some returning home after cleaning the debris and whatever else seemed useful. By 9 o'clock last night the a i downtown area had been sealed off to all but patrolmen and national guardsmen, some of them zealous in their threats to shoot anyone who looked like a looter. One a i Gazette employe stopped at the office at' 11:30 p.m. after working to find survivors since the storm hit. He had been thrown to the ground by the big wind's force.

And he still had not found his own family. Those coming into town from the fringes described the sky as "fiery red" from lights of emergency i sirens screamed from an endless success of a a i cruisers, fire trucks, flasher-equipped private cars, utility vehicles, tree service trucks, dump trucks, bulldozers, cranes and emergency light rigs. By 2 a.m. today South Detroit Street between a i and Second resembled an A training ground as units from the 178lh Tactical Air National Guard of Springfield filed off: Ohio Masonic Home buses and formed for their orders. Rumors of another approaching "twister sent one busload directly into the basement "of the Gazette building, which is a Civil Defense-equipped shelter.

Rumors were rampant. Some of the most horrible proved to be true, but for the most part there was thankfulness just for life. Seasoned newsmen and law enforcement officers described it as the worst disaster they had experienced. Everyone had his own story to tell and as the curious met on i streets before dark, there was a strange, instant camaraderie. Insurance men labored into the night contacting adjusters and no one would a a a guess on a damage estimate.

It simply was and is inestimable. Some Daily Gazette staffers worked through the 'night, writing their disconnected and shocked, jagged thoughts by the light of dimming flashlights as rain poured into strategically placed garbage cans. The building roof, weakened by the storm, buckled further under the successive gusts of wind, and water poured through to the third, the second and then to the first floor, weakening ceilings as it dripped. Only the basement, where precious rolls of newsprint are stored, was spared. A major concern was the telephone switchboard -our only link to the outside through Beavercreek lines and the fear that water would end its use.

National guardsman probes debris along Xenia street. (AP) 'My God, my God, was all we could say' By LaVersa Motes Staff Writer The sound was indescribable the rushing winds, glass crashing, roofs of buildings smashing down, cars picked up and thrown against others like matchbox toys. I was huddled with six other women on the floor behind Kennedy's Beauty Shop. We had tried to get into the supermarket, but the wind was so fierce the door wouldn't open, so we crouched, clutching each other, holding hands, on the floor in a tiny hallway while insulation and hair curlers and dirt and grit swept over us. When it was over we looked up, and there was no beauty shop.

I stepped on walls, trying to get out. "My God, my God," was all we could say. There was no Kennedy Korners. Cars were overturned, buildings were three feet high. Karl Buck, working in.

his drugstore in Kennedy Korners, yelled to us to see if we were okay. His drugstore had one shelf of merchandise left standing. The supermarket was without plate glass windows; cartons of canned goods had been picked up and thrown into the parking lot. There seemed to be no way out of the area West Second Street was blocked by railway cars, piles of rubble blocked all exits. Finally, we caught a ride through Laynewood, out Towler Road to the north end of town.

The devastation there was not as bad. Houses were without roofs and windows and trees blocked streets, but at least buildings were still upright. The Greene County fairgrounds were not damaged. It wasn't so in the Kennedy Korners area, where there was at least one dead. Emergency bulletins Emergency personnel only allowed in city Xc.nia Check Carried 165 Miles To Mansfield (AP) City Manager Robert Stewart, who is in charge of all operations, reports the city perimeter will be sealed for at least two days against incoming traffic of almost all sorts.

He emphasized this includes relatives looking for missing families. Stewart said crews are working to find all persons injured or missing, and an influx of people into the area would hamper these efforts. Those allowed to enter the city will be emergency personnel, major business owners and legitimate press personnel. Persons with homes to stay in are advised to remain there. Attempting to go to work or drive will do nothing but add to the confusion, and the possibilities of getting back Into the city are slim, Stewart said.

A command center has been set up at the county office on Green Street and i a a controlling the different phases of revitalization from there. Xenia Police Chief Ray Jordan is coordinating security and a i control, assisted by the Ohio Highway Patrol and the sheriff's department. Fire Chief John Troeger will coordinate search and a i directed mainly at finding the injured and dead and providing needed services. For these operations the city has been divided into six sectors, vyith groups of rescuers assigned to each area. David Lyons, city planner, is in charge of damage assessment.

His task is vitally important because a preliminary estimate of damages must be made within 72 hours to gain disaster funds which Gov. John J. Gilligan has said will be made available. Joseph Harner, city service director, will coordinate debris cleanup, with public rights-of-way and the worst-hit residential areas getting first priority. For this operation the city has been divided into 10 sections.

The Red Cross is taking care of shelter, food, clothing, health and welfare. Xenia realtor' Harold Rodin is commanding the Green County branch, assisted by Redenbo of Dayton. The Daily Gazette, at City Manager Stewart's a i Associate Editor Tom McCatherine as the command post's com- municlion's coordinator. School plans pending Norman Aukerman, assistant principal at Xenia High School, said this morning school officials would discuss the various alternatives for finishing the school year. He said existing buildings not damaged might go on half-day sessions and that students might be able to use neighboring schools on half-day sessions.

Apparently there were no injuries at Xenia High School, which had emptied for the day about 3:15 p.m. Some athletes and drama students were in the building but were unhurt. Insurance funds due People' insured by Montgomery-Benson Insurance 114 S. Detroit may obtain immediate payments to enable them to pay for motel accommodations and food, Robert Montgomery said today. He advised them to come to his office to apply, He added that the Travelers Insurance Co is trying to get a disaster aid unit to Xenia but by midmorning had not been able to determine the extent of damage here.

Mail getting through The motto, "The mail must get through," was in evidence today as 30 to 40 employes of the Xenia Post Office arrived at work. They were prepared to make deliveries on routes that were not damaged. Postmaster William Shaw said this morning outgoing mail is no problem and can be mailed at the two boxes at the East Main Street office, which was not damaged. Don't phone Dayton Don't try to telephone Dayton. That was the advice today from Ohio Bell's Springfield District Manager Robert Stelzer, in Xenia to help with restoration of phone service.

Spring Valley and Bellbrook areas were cut off from phone contact with Xenia but could reach and be reached by Dayton phones. Phone lines were so jammed this morning by people trying to call from Xenia to Beavercreek and Dayton areas that it was impossible for many to get through. Toll cables from there to anywhere were far overloaded, according to Tom Heine, another Ohio Bell official. Switching centers in this tornado-hit area are all intact, the damage lying in cables, wires and poles. No one could estimate now many phones haa been knocked out..