Gazette News-Current from Xenia, Ohio • Page 5

XENIA GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER: didn't know if my wife was alive or dead 9 'Death and debris--that's the only way to say it' By Jerilzor Journal Correspondent Xenia Gazette Photographer Frank Cimmino stood in a Journal darkroom directing the development of pictures of his hometown or what was left of it. He had been up since 7 a.m. yesterday morning, putting in a regular day of activities at the newspaper ami, afterthe disaster hit, staying up all night, taking pictures where he could, helping the injured and homeless where he could. "For an hour and a half afler the tornado hit, I didn't know if my wife was alive or dead. I hoped for the best and left the other well enough alone." 'His voice became shaky.

"I feel like 1 could cry. I'm sorry. Maybe it's just now hitting. I've been too busy to think about it. I didn't want to think-about it." Cimmino, 58, who has worked for the Gazette for six years, heard the tornado coming, "like a freight train.

"There were tornado watches out, I knew what was coming and being a photographer, well, of course I grabbed my camera. Outside my home 1 saw the black clouds coming. I turned around and saw it about two blocks away. I guess I was too busy to be scared. No matter what direction I looked there was a picture you didn't even have to look for a picture.

The air was full of debris." As Cimmino wandered through the wreckage, he found death and wreckage, looters had already taken to the streets collecting the spoils. About a block away he saw his wife, who was working at the newspaper when the tornado hit, picking her way through the rubble. "When I got to her, she exploded, crying and telling the car was demolished. I said, 'To hell with the car. To hell with the To hell with it all.

She was alive." who served in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II, said the- only scene to compare with yesterday's disaster in Xenia was the maumade disaster he witnessed in St. Lo, Belgium, after a battle there. "I've been a photographer off and on for 23 years," he said. "I've covered many disasters and death has become a common occurance. But nothing will ever compare to what I saw yesterday.

"Death and debris -that's the only way to say it." Thursday, April 4,1974 The Xenia Gazette RESIDENTIAL SECTION TODAY RAVAGED BY TORNADO The Funnel Ripped Through The Xenia Area Yesterday. (AP) Seven-mile area like a battlefield in Greene County National Guard on patrol Three Ohio National Guardsmen patrol of streets of Xenia today after the tornado destroyed about half the city. Area law enforcement officers and National Guardsmen are keeping order and searching for victims. (AP) Injured put at Admitted at Springfield Forty-six persons were treated and 12 admitted at Springfield Community Hospilal. 1 Admitted were Phyllis Burba, Ida Dabney, Eva Gaylord, Linda Jones, Georgia Long, Donna Pitts, Evelyn Rpckhold, Jacquelyn Ross, Dorothy Smith, Ellis i i a i a Stringer, and Gloria Oliver.

Miami Valley Hospital reported about 150 injured persons were brought to its Obituary Mrs. Mary Crab ill Services for Mrs. Mary Aikman Crabill, 49, wife of Robert A. Crabill, 345J Rome Beauty Drive, Beaverereek Township, who died Tuesday at Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, will be held at 10 a.m. Friday in Tobias Funeral Home, 648 a i A Dayton.

Burial will be in a a Kettering. emergency room and 40 lo 45 required admission. i i persons were taken to Kettering Memorial Hospital. Six were admitted: Robert Lotter, 1690 Maumee Drive; Rober Finley, 159 W. Market Joyce Combs, 603 Louis Drive; Beverly Martin, 1006 Stewart William Knutt, Kettering, and Mary Cooper, for whom Tar box Cemetery Road and Centerville addresses were listed.

A spokesman for Kettering Memorial said persons admitted suffered bone fractures and head injuries, while most injuries were lacerations and bruises. Surgery performed under flashlights Guard units pour in The 178th Tactical Fighter Group from Springfield Municipal Airport had 300 men in Xenia overnight and 300 more were expected to replace the night group today. A group of 100 will be for security, 100 for search parties and 100 for general cleanup. A National Guard unit from Dayton was also expected in today with 600 more men. There was looting Immediately after the tornado struck at Rink's Department store on Dayton Avenue -and at Kennedy Korners on Orange Street, which was destroyed.

No further looting was reported. Road jammed Motorists wanting to see the wreckage were jamming roads toward Xenia this morning. The Ohio State Patrol's Xenia Post reported traffic problems caused by the curious as "terrific." An estimated 30 to 40 patrolmen were on duty keeping the crowds at bay. i a Hospital, pumping water from fire hydrants, continued assisting the injured today after treating 250 persons in the first four hours following the tornado. An estimated 1,000 are injured.

The water shutof caused the electric generator to overload generator is water cooled), and a blown fuse resulted in loss of power for several minutes. GMH Administrator Herman Menapace said surgery was performed under flashlights. Cots and pallets were set up in hallways for suturing and treatment. Physicians and nurses came from as far as Columbus. One problem, Menapace said, was finding a neurosurgeon to treat head injuries.

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base's medical center dispatched a. neurosurgeon to help out. Three Army medical helicopters came into the area last night. Weather. kept them from transporting patients into the hospital but the copters delivered supplies from other areas.

Brown in area Congressman Clarence J. Brown, who serves the Xenia area, toured Greene County this morning after flying in from Washington. Brown said that he had been in touch last night with federal agencies and officials, including the White House; James Lynn, secretary of Housing and Urban Development the Federal Disaster Assistance A i i a i and i a Air Force Base to insure that all possible federal assistance to the Green County area was mobilized or ready to offer further assistance. Greene County's villages Xenia's neighbors -were hit in varying degrees, but most fared better than Xenia except Wilberforce. The seven miles between N.

Detroit Street and Cedarville resembles a battlefield. Huge trees were uprooted on both sides of U.S. 42. Livestock wandered about fields, glassy-eyed with shock. Central State is 70 per cent damaged.

At old Wilberforce, Galloway Hall, one of the oldest structures on campus, had its roof and clock tower heavily damaged. Hallie Q. Brown Library and vacated O'Neill Hall showed severe roof and glass damage and might have to be razed. a a I a Women's Dormitory was without a roof and a first- floor cafeteria was demolished. The Country Store, near the campus, had its front blown out.

It was guarded by state officers. Unconfirmed reports indicated six persons were severely injured on campus, mostly by glass fragments. Wires were down along the entire stretch on U.S. 42. Cars were without windows and large forested areas were flattened by the swirling force.

One large tree at Central Slate 1 was uprooted and moved 50 feet. Across 42 at the new Wilberforce University, damage was minimal except for strewn litter. Lale this morning, the slate patrol was a i a i i one-lane traffic on U.S. 42 between Xenia and Wilberforce. At several points telephone poles were lying across traffic lanes.

Houses were split or deroofed or tilted at crazy angles. Black's Furniture Store was leveled. A new church being erected on Ihe outskirts of Xenia was smashed beyond recognition. A gas station at the edge of Xenia was blown away. IN CEDARVILLE there was little damage evident.

On the college campus, however, Prof. Edward Spencer, language and literature teacher, said the new science building was damaged and the astronomical observatory was partially blown away. A Cedarville professor, L. Burt Frye, lost his Xenia home. The school clocks stopped at 4:37 p.m.

Six cars of a train were a i southwest of Cedarville. Damage soulh of the village appeared minor, wilh chunks of insulation and other debris clinging wetly to wire fences along miles of country roads. Jamestown residents, tired by safe from injury, were counting Iheir blessings this morning, after being routed out twice last night to huddle in the village firehouse and basements of several churches. Loudspeakers about 8 p.m. and 2 a.m.

advised residents whose homes lacked basements to wait out some- of the night's frequent tornado warnings in the churches. The only damage was reported from one strong wind that hit windows. Greeneview North Elementary School was closed today, but other Greeneview schools were a emergency squadmen, who had helped with rescue work last night, returned to Xenia this morning, with firemen on standby in the village. Yellow Spring's major damage yesterday seemed to be from snowball-si zed hailstones (hat pelted the village and then disappeared in the warm air except for those many residents saved in home freezers. Gas expected back on today Natural gas service lo Xenia and Wilberforce was cut off by the Dayton Power Light Co.

to prevent explosions and permit crews to repair broken lines. Electric service to tornado-ripped areas was expected to be turned on by noon today, Jerry Morgan of DPL's Dayton office said late in the morning. The storm uprooted a a regulators, pulling a number of gas mains out of the ground. The result was a sudden drop in pressure, snuffing out pilot lights but allowing gas to escape into the air, Morgan said. All three lines that bring electric power here were cut by Ihe tornado about 4:40 p.m.

yesterday. Two towers were uprooted at the Sugarcreek substation at Wilmington Pike and Ferry Road. The three broken lines cut off electricity for Xenia, Wilberforce, Cedarville and South Charleston. i Washington C.H. and Dayton brought power back lo the north part of Xenia about 10 p.m.

yesterday, and to South Charleston about 4 a.m. today. Restoring service to Wilberforce and Cedarville will not come until late tomorrow because 17 electric poles were a explained. Gas crewmen, here from all over Southwestern Ohio, have been sent to each home in the affected area to shut gas off at the curbs. After gas mains are repaired and pressure is restored, crews will return lo each home to turn on individual lines and light each home's pilot lights,.