The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah • 18

TORNADO B2 THURSDAY August 12 1989 Assembly Building Workers Get Close Brush With Storm Continued from B-l Tornado Puts New Spin On Salt Lake Traffic Extreme weather affects UTA routes transportation BY LINDA FANT1N THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Damon Blythe can drive all the routes: Provo Ogden the Avenues East Side West Side whatever Today he learned a new one: Twister Three years on the job at the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) and Blythe has never seen anything like this His supervisors called him in from Farmington where he was shuttling people to and from Lagoon By 3:30 pm he was smack in the middle of chaos searching for wayward passengers Almost immediately after the tornado police sealed off 10 blocks in the center of Salt Lake City UTA ordered bus passengers leaving downtown to converge on the City-County Building at 400 South and State Street By midafternoon buses were stretched around half the block Schedules were shot and so was the patience of some passengers Mtw- Danny Ia The Sail Lake Tribune dering why UTA didn't have a better plan "I just hope I get home by 11" he said For thousands of people like Barney Wednesday's tornado was more of an inconvenience than a tragedy For some it was even an opportunity Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini urged businesses to let their employees leave early something Blythe says UTA was not prepared for Before 5 pm thousands of passengers had swamped the City-County Building Other downtowners wandered the sidewalks self-conscious like extras on a movie set waiting for a cue to go home Richard Lin Susan Cheng and Lily Huang stood in the middle of Main Street Lost The three Taipei Taiwan sleeping-bag salespeople were in the Outdoor Retailer tent when it collapsed Their hotel The Wynd-ham was trashed "We are really lucky" said Lin "I saw one guy laying on the ground with a gash on his neck" Traffic snarls made it nearly impossible for workers to retrieve their cars from parking garages "I've been telling people to leave work right now catch dinner and a movie and come back for your car later" said Officer Russ Amott of the Salt Lake City Police Department manning a blockade at 100 Main St The Outdoor Retailer tent city near the Salt Palace took the full force of the fatal winds 4l SI I who despite the delays were managing to keep their tempers in check Tom Barney and Amanda Han said "So the building looks OK but everything is going to have to be checked out" Most people on Temple Square or building various projects for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints escaped injury said LDS spokesman Dale Bills Two construction workers were hurt neither with life-threatening injuries he said A security guard said 71 of about 100 vehicles in the parking lot west of the LDS Church Museum and Family History Library were damaged On Temple Square two large windows were blown out in the church's North Visitor Center The south-facing windows framed an enormous statue called the "Christus" depicting Jesus Christ with outstretched hands against a backdrop of the galaxies Three large trees were uprooted and scores of limbs broken The temple will be open today though church officials were unsure whether enough debris would be cleared to allow public access to the grounds Half a block north at the Deser-et Apartments 158 Main Jennifer Bowman a missionary for the LDS Church became alarmed when she saw debris flying past her third-floor window but did not realize it was a tornado until the pressure started popping her ears Suction kept her and her mission partner from opening a door to flee The window shattered and sprayed glass in the apartment "We just squatted down and started to pray" said Bowman from Ontario Canada At the Kensington 176 Main most of the upper-level renters watched helplessly as the tornado tore through their living rooms Darrel Adams sat on his couch watching TV when he realized something was terribly wrong "All I heard was yelling" he said "Everyone was panicking" Adams heard bricks bang against the building as the wind ripped the roof like a can of sardines "Our apartment is toasted" he said From Main Street the tornado marched up Capitol Hill and tossed trees on top of cars and homes 2 0 sen were among hundreds waiting in the rain for the No 72 Express to Ogden He works at the LDS Church Office Building on North Temple she works in the Beneficial Life building She was thinking she should have hopped the 70 He was won The storm also scattered trees through City Creek Canyon and Memory Grove Park On Canyon Road downhill from the park John Jansen's two-story house shook so hard that he thought it was an earthquake "My trees are all gone 200-year-old trees" he said Joan Mullaney and Lynette Smith were cleaning Mullaney's Canyon Road home when the power went out "I came out just in time to watch my furniture slide across the room" Mullaney said "I tried to close the door because my dog was trying to go outside but it took Herculean force I knew to go to the center of the house" When it was over the pair went to see what had happened "I don't think the word 'tornado' occurred to me" Mullaney said "I had no idea a tree had fallen through the roof" Or that so many branches covered Smith's car that it no longer was visible Broken glass lay scattered throughout the house But an heirloom clock given to her parents as a wedding gift sat on the sill unharmed though the window behind it was shattered "I have a new empathy for tornado victims" Mullaney said "I just didn't understand it" Salt Lake Tribune reporters Mark Havnes Mike Gorrell and Kelly Kennedy contributed to this report Frequent Urination Straining Hesitancy These are just a few of the symptoms of a non-cancerous enlarged prostate (BPH) which can now be easily and safely treated using an advanced non surgical process with the PROSTATRON This outpatient procedure offers significant lasting relief with no pain no needles and no long recovery period "'c( For more information call Toll Free: URGMED 1-877-364-TUMT (8868) or ecHNoioons 801-364-TUMT (8868) Waiter Kyan lalbrailh The Sail Uke Tribune I Heat-n-Gi offers thf selection to satisfy your burning Police officers carry an injured woman near the Salt Palace ET sP'f5k If you enjoy Ihe ambience of a wood burning fire bul prefer the beauty and convenience of" natural gas Heat Glo offers -the fireplace products to satisfy your desire Avenues: Houses Trees Badly Damaged Continued from B-l SMART The fireplace Is one of the most highly desired features In the home and eneny efficient natural gas fireplaces bring one of the highest returns on home Investment A Heat Ilk) fireplace Is a beautiful and smart addition to your home A CIVILIZED FISH A STEAK EMPORIUM path was LDS Hospital one of the city's designated trauma centers for natural disasters The hospital lost power and was forced onto its emergency generator system but it did not turn patients away said hospital spokesman Jess Gomez Police set up checkpoints around the damaged neighborhoods to keep away gawkers and prevent looting Despite the storm's fury it didn't take long for most Avenues residents to rediscover their sense of humor Doug Ferguson 472 13th Ave found a Delta Center event parking sign amid the debris in his back yard "Does this mean we can legally charge for Delta event parking?" he quipped Cuisine" 16th Avenue An elderly woman who lives alone Pedersen was in her living room watching live TV reports about the storm when the tornado approached She decided to get out of the living room where the picture window faces south "Glass started coming in I turned around and glass was hitting me in the back" she said Pedersen ducked into her kitchen and took cover against her refrigerator A few feet to her left the tornado ripped the roof off her home's entire west side Windows throughout the home were blown out Next door the tornado lifted half of the roof from the home of Lew and Grace Wilson and dropped it onto LDS Church grounds a block away "Our trampoline is in the neighbor's yard" said Emily Wilson On the edge of the tornado's CONVENIKNT Ncadv Alm rtre1 Heat Cki's Golden flaaw Series Is the first line ol nalural gas flreplwr products to oiler optional remote contnils This sen Inc lude- our (talented direct vent models which eliminate tin- need lor chin ni-ys by venting directly oulside Inn the back of uie unit thus makng Installations easv and lnexienslve PI i Mi help tiv neighbors" Walker I 'p sheet Jeremy White's liiiM ieI liMW sports car was iinsi allied though rocks and other ('ebiis ucie scattered around it Later he f'nind a birthday card i('ies Sehow and signed by 1:1 Iiililieii Tint pretty poignant I'm go-ir! I i to take this over to ll'T ll" vnd AioiimiI Hie corner Frances l'e-deisen surveyed the heavy dam-ni: to liei HO vear-old home on Ileal Ok) oilers over SO fireplace products A selection i certain to sansiy your Doming desire Choose From Itiij ilril (iki (k-iikr Imin' i BBQ Ribs HEAT-N-GLO Salt Lake Tribune reporters Guy Ikntlton Katherine Kapos Heather May and Glen Warrhol contributed to this story Broiled Steak HalibutSalmonCrab Chicken Breast DINNER SUN THURS LUNCH 5 00 TO 930 MON Rl FRI SAT 30 2:30 5 00 To 10 30 No an ud bvtur flea NATURAL 28 LIVE-BURNING NATURAL GAS FIREPLACES ON DISPLAY BY DESIGN Serving the Wasatch Front Since 1968 "mil LVj bris and windows were blown out of several trucks and two cranes A few workers suffered minor injuries A gas line ruptured at 100 South and 500 West but was contained soon after the tornado dissipated "There are going to be a lot of insurance claims" said Dan Weaver a Salt Lake City police officer Including one for the Sun "Two nights a week we're a dance club and two nights a week we're Cheers" Strickler said "The Sun's been around for about 26 years We'll hang in there" Sun Club Among 1st to Feel Tornado's Wrath Continued from B-l SI TOOT ie Yarrow Proudly Presentj hSe Firjt of Mony fimfff ft' 3CEE incites TO Mind BtKly MEDICAL ALERT Nutrition Make Your Appointment Today to listen to a live call-in radio talk hhow "21st Century Medicine with Hugo Rodier MD" on Saturday! 12 noon lo 1 pm on KTKK-KTALK AM 630AM lf10 Find mil about I he "Inlcurallv Approach" In medicine! (rt your quratlona ready! Ilrougbl to you In part by: C3 A am a self described regular at the bar "it's over there it's over thine and over there" I he Sun was one of the first victims in the tornado's path The funnel cloud hurled bricks and wood from the the Sun's roof hundreds of yards to the west JV Swanson a building maintenance worker at the Utah Transit Authority bus depot on GOO West watched In disbelief as the tornado devastated chain-link fences car windows trees and shingles "It was a big wall of dirt" Swanson said "It was only here a few seconds but it was so blark you couldn't see any sunlisht The twister knocked out a temporary support girder on a section of Interstate (10 under const ruction near 200 South and ttOO West It fell It severed de- FRIDAY AUGUST 13 '99 Join ut for on evening of mingling dinner ond non-ilop enlertoinmpnt ond doncing Moitod by colobfirioi ft om Pork NAM KM IlinllS MHKI I I VjJj''y ilMfS City Tpleviiion to benefit tfie 6ftS Annual Great EKO)e ond Mtile-A With Fundtoiier on Sflptomber 1 1 Alia soon sored bv (1 AstraZcncal' For more information call Th -v AU Mrnliflf llnl of llrrba Nutrition Environment IVlo RX Yarrow at 1 -800-927-7694 PC I AS JL.