Daily Republican-Register from Mount Carmel, Illinois • 8

ra Republican-Register. Vt. CarmeL IL Monday. January 9. 198E 1 Governor, Senator 0' Daniel visit Gov.

Jim Tcsc- in' Allendale mid- moved, Thompson said day Sunday to wsc assess the dam- ere- he P'cks his waY age left by a torriacc 'leveled one-third of 54th District Bill the village late Sat-cav night. Obviously Wabash County Sheriff "It's pretty awful." across debris with O'Daniel, left, and Randy Grounds. Gov. Thompson sees damage Governor Thompson greeted workers that tures added to the many difficulties Allendale' had started on the grueling efforts to -clean faced Sunday up the tornado's destruction. Cold tempera- Gibson County, other neighbors provide help after tornado strikes l-lwii aCX 71 1 I I Blankets provided Blankets were in short supply the Allendale tragedy and volunteers soon began to arrive at Wabash General Hospital with donations.

Here, employees of the Target Store arrive with new blankets the store. Blankets were needed for victims and later for the homeless who stayed in emergency shelters. He said as one entered Allendale, there were "tons upon of debris (houses; tree, limbs). Several' houses had nothing but their foundations left." In the main path, "everything was1gone or flattened." Owensville Montgomery Township Fire Chief Cody White reported they took one vehicle and five men. This unit, along with a Gibson County ambulance crew and a Wel-born Baptist Hospital paramedic who.

ljves in Princeton, worked an accident about four miles north of Mt. Carmel on Illnois 1 invov-, ing a van overturned in eight inches of water. Two persons were injured, believed to have been Mt. Carmel EMTs on their way to Allendale. Ransford reported his crew drove to the scene in a driving rain.

White said the "devastation was unreal." His crew earned out two searches but nobody was found. He said "we witnessed one looter getting arrested by Illinois State Police." units repond-ing included two more Gibson County ambulances, firemen and rescue squad personnel from Ft. Branch Columbia Township, ambulances from Pnspv nr'rl 0 saw one barn leveled and a nearby house, just 20 to 40 feet away undamaged. Ballard said the disaster isn't over with the ild weather moving in. ctric company work ers were on the scene Sunday to restore service Ballard said.

Wabash General Hospital in Mt. Carmel was calling for all the help they could get and GCSD sent Patoka police to the home of Marlene Bingham, an X-ray technician, but the officer reported nobody home nor at a relative's residence. The officer thought they might be at the basketball game in Evansville, Princeton versus Harrison. WRAY radio in Princeton contacted game announcers to put the emergency message on the PA system to notify Bingham she was needed. Ballard said the only incidents, reported in Gibson County' were three trees blocking roads and county garage and state highway crews took care of that.

Ernie Lasley of the Patoka Township Fire Dept. reported their department and the Princeton Fire Dept. contributed two vehicles, eight men and generators, lighting equipment, saws and other He said "the Gibson County Rescue Service did a tremendous job." ft fv man was trapped under a house trailer a couple hours and several of his men worked to get him free. "Allendale's Fire Dept. was wiped out," Ransford said.

"It's the first time I'd seen anything like this; it was awesome," Ransford said. He estimated the path of the tornado damag'e was two blocks Gibson County Sheriff George Ballard coordinated communications with Mt. Carmel police, Wabash County, sheriff officers and "other county emergen cy units, as well as some from Warrick and Pike counties. He and deputy Virl Bottoms took a plane up Sunday morning and surveyed the destruction from the air. Four reserve deputies over Sunday to help direct traffic.

The town was closed down: again about 4 p.m. after being opened to residents about 10:20 a.m. GCSD dispatcher and" EMT Ramona Wade was one that helped at Allendale and Ballard said she told him "our rescue (personnel) learned a lot" from the experience. Ballard and Bottoms also flew over the Vin-cennes area near the new high school and reported two homes with quite a bit of dan-age and some. others with some damage, but "nothing like Allendale," Ballard said.

The sheriff said he i i downed 600, at the village's in the path where the IV II 4 iK-mr; A IMUMSJI 6 By JOE WINKLER Clarion Associate Editor Being a good neighbor is one thing small communities have over the big cities. This past weekend, Princeton and other Gibson County communities responded to help their fellow man across the Wabash, just as Mt. Carmel, 111., fire-fighters' responded when Princeton needed help with a downtown fire last month. The Gibson County Rescue Service was one of the first outside to respond to a reported tornado touchdown at -Allendale, 111., nine miles north of Mt. Carmel on Illinois 1.

GCRS Chief David Ransford said their rescue squad' with six men arrived at 6:25 p.m. at' set up at the command center at the downtown bank, the only downtown build-. ing left intact. Their generator and lighting equipment was used to light the triage and ambulance staging area." At the south edge of town, Ransford said "a of houses was just leveled." Near the hank, two large LP tanks were leaking so heavily one almost became nauseating. The Scott Township (northern Vanderburgh County) IIAZ MAT (hazardous materials) team was called, but by the time it arrived the tanks were empty.

Ransford said one In. i in i i m' 9n Allendale, population south entrance was ji- -n f.v. Pike counties, a rescue squad from Posey County, and many EMTs. White reported one Haubstadt fireman reported on his own. -mrw tttmm WGH follows disaster plan hospital admitted 21 patients and transferred three, most with cuts and abrasions.

Nursing Director Elaine Shaw praised hospital staff. "Everyone came in when called and we had enough help, and from the ambulances here, as well as Vanderburgh County and Vincennes." This time it was for real, as victims of Saturday's tornado arrived at Wabash General Hospital where only two weeks before' a mock disaster drill was held. Here, a nurse checks a Wabash County ambulance to make sure all victims have been removed as Controller Ed Cooper watches. Cooper coordinated the hospital's disaster -miiwirr ---'T rTif miwi niilfiirr ir afcuit i Ml mmam 1 1 im riwit wifWMMrt-N Vehicles tossed like tovs A tornado tossed vehicles around like a child playing with toy cars Saturday night in Allen: dale. Here, a truck lays wedged between two cars next to the Bill and Mary Jo Wagener residence, left.

Notice the piece of aluminum siding hanging from the top of the tree. tornado crossed 1..