The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah • 1

WEIDER LOSES $55M I PGA CHAMPIONSHIP BELLIES OF THE BALL Festivals feature midriff-baring dance F-1 Draper's Mike Weir is tied for second E-1 But revenues were up for quarter B-1 fA Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871 FRIDAY AUGUST 13 1999 143 South Main Street (8011237-2800 Salt Lake City Utah 84111 Volume 258 Number 121 1999 The Salt Lake Tribune Tit Wind Roared and Fortitud as the 'People pulled together' to aid injured before paramedics arrived on scene fa-: 1: 1: Al Ilartmana'The Sail Lake Tribune New weather radar missed the twister misjudged the storm BY LEE SIEGEL 1999 THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE National Weather Service meteorologist William Alder bragged recently about new computer and radar equipment used by his Salt Lake City forecast office declaring: "We have become a no-surprise weather service" But there was no tornado warning from the agency Wednesday before a destructive twister tore through downtown And the tornado had been on the ground for two minutes before a severe thunderstorm warning was issued The tornado was not detected by the Weather Service's NEXRAD Doppler radar on Utah's Promontory Point because the radio wave-emitting device could not be aimed low enough to detect the twister Alder said Thursday Environmentalists including actor Larry Hagman who played JR Ewing on the old "Dallas" TV series have fought such radars near Hagman's Ojai Calif home and in Tucson Ariz New York City and Buffalo NY They argued radio waves could cause leukemia or other ailments claims rejected by federal courts But the evil cannot be blamed for the lack of warning about the Salt Lake City tornado Instead the problem involves technical limitations of the highly advanced radar system part of a highly touted $45 billion Weather Service modernization The lack of warning also stems from the rarity of Utah tornadoes and the fact that Weather Service computer software so good at using radar data to spot Midwest tornadoes cannot yet recognize their radar "signature" in the mountainous West said Jim Belville director of the NEXRAD Operational Support Facility in Norman Okla So the world's leading tornado experts at Belville's offce and the Weather Service nearby National Severe Storms Laboratory will analyze data from the Salt Lake City tornado and figure out if future tornadoes can be recognized in time to provide warnings "We'll see if there is something we can do with the data to identify storms like this to enable our people to issue better warnings" said Belville whose facility is run by the Weather Service Defense Department and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Belville and Alder said an FAA ground-level terminal Doppler weather radar at Salt Lake City International Airport also may help provide better tornado warnings Alder said it soon will be put into See WEATHER RADAR Page A-8 BY MICHAEL VICH and SCOTT NOLAN THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE On Thursday Charles Johnston was one of a dozen people still hospitalized from the tornado that had killed one person and injured 80 others in Salt Lake City the day before Johnston had been setting up a tent for the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market when the violent winds struck A 5-foot piece of flying debris opened a large gash in his head causing him to lose half his blood Two men helped him to the lobby of the Wyndham Hotel 215 South Temple and stopped the bleeding until he was whisked away in a medical chopper to LDS Hospital "Those two guys did everything they could to help me" said Johnston who lives in Salt Lake County "I am very thankful to those guys who I don't even know" The death toll could have been higher in Wednesday's tornado said Salt Lake City Assistant Fire Chief Stephen Hig-gins if not for fire crews and private citizens who tended to the injured before paramedics arrived "People pulled together and did what they could to help" Higgins said Also heartening said Salt Lake Assistant Police Chief Roy Wasden is that reports of looting proved false The tornado touched down before 1 pm Wednesday with winds between 113 and 157 mph cutting a 3-mile swath through downtown Salt Lake City and parts of the Capitol Hill and Avenues neighborhoods Thursday Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini estimated damage to the city at about $150 million The city will clean up private property if an owner signs a waiver-of-liability form Call 972-7809 from 8 am to 5 pm Be aware however that the first priority is to public streets and downed power lines officials said The Salt Palace complex sustained some damage in the tornado but the convention center was spared a direct hit and was up and running by Thursday morning "We feel real fortunate that I I Charles Johnston lost half his blood when flying debris cut his temple Wednesday Survival-supply sales slow B-1 Retailers trying to recover B-1 Phone crews check losses B-1 Memory Grove devastated C-1 700 trees were destroyed C-1 Children were traumatized C-1 City waives fees for repairs C-2 Insurers to the rescue C-3 TV images of SL tor nado F-9 our facilities and staff did not incur major damage or injuries" said Salt Lake County Commissioner Brent Overson "It certainly could have been a lot worse" The west end of the Salt Palace was in the twister's path but the 15-story Wyndham next door absorbed most of the blow As it was the tornado blew off six vent covers from the roof and tore off some canvas-like roof membrane "As much glass as our building has it's really remarkable that we got through this basically unscathed The Wyndham really saved us" said Salt Palace Marketing Director Allyson Jackson Abravanel Hall also had minor damage to the roof and windows Repairs began Thursday Wyndham employee Bob Childers said he is grateful to the McDonald's restaurant on 500 South for sending over cheeseburgers orange drinks bottled water and muffins right See THE INJURED Page A-9 4 's I 1 I ti 'J VJl Sieve UriffinThe Sail Lake Tribune Glorya Schow and LaMar Smith enter the front door of their Avenues home which was destroyed by the tornado that ripped through downtown Salt Lake on Wednesday Chaos Provided Valuable Lessons for Olympic Planners ii i i i nri4 Iff TOfe 6 Incompatible police frequencies and jammed cell-phone lines strained coordination among the 30-some agencies involved in Wednesday's rescue efforts said Dearden Utah public-safety commissioner As a result ambulances occasionally arrived on a scene to find others already had responded And officers sent to direct traffic were forgotten because they were on a different communication system Salt Lake County operates on an 800 megahertz radio system Salt Lake City uses a 300 megahertz system All other cities in the valley have 150 megahertz None can talk to the others That will change soon The state and Salt Lake City are upgrading to 800 megahertz starting In January That should eliminate many of the delays that happened Wednesday Dearden said noting that despite the glitches public safety was never seriously compromised See TWISTER Page A-8 BY LINDA FANT1N THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE As the tornado disfigured downtown it left intact an arrowhead clock anchored to the ground flashing the number of days until the start of the 2002 Winter Games 9 1 1 Beware it seemed to say Pay attention and learn from what you see For Craig Dearden it was hard not to The Olympic public-safety commander absorbed it all: The Delta Center roof in rubble walking wounded everywhere useless cell phones "As I looked around at all the chaos I couldn't help but think: 'If this is the way it going to be during the Olympics we've got to do some things different' For starters improve communication and develop a backup plan Danny UThc Salt Lake Tribune Bernie Gutierrez left and his friend Devin Riviera move a piece of roofing blown off an apartment complex three houses west of his out of his driveway They had to cut the root into pieces to move il Hatch Says He's Misunderstood But Some Say His Anti-Gay Bias Is Clear INDEX Ann Under Ml Editorial! A-U AsimovBridge Jumble D-24 BirthT 1-7 Movi hi Briefing A-J Obituaries Buiiinrw PuwU J-J4 Cliusifieds Sportt Comio SUrGnMT D-2J Crowiword D-J4 TV Programs disposition or whether it is a choice Either way though In contradistinction to people of color people of color can't do anything about their color" Hatch said "But I do believe gay people have a choice to live within the legal rules or not" he said emphasizing that he abhors discrimination "It's up to them that they do have a choice where an African-American has no choice with regard to the color of their skin So that'a why we have civil-rights laws to protect African-Americans from discrimination" Hatch's words drew scorn "It's a slap In the face for him to even make that comparison" said Jeanetta Williams president of the NaUonal Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Salt Lake branch "It'i something be hasn't givea much thought to" BY JOHN HKIU'RIN THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Sen Orrin Hatch drew national scrutiny and criticism when he asserted in 1988 that Democrats are "the party of homosexuals they are the party of abortion" He initially denied he said it to Republican activists in St George then apologized after a radio reporter produced a tape recording More than decade later the 63-year-old Utah Republican still feels misunderstood And now that he Is running for the GOP presidential nomination Hatch again is trying to diffuse the effects of remarks that once drew national scorn Yet he still is spreading much the same message Just a bit more tactfully perhaps As recently as June 5 Hatch reiterated his belief when he listed reasons Utah Republicans could be Web-name 'squatter" beats Hatch to the punch A-10 proud of themselves at their annual state convention in Ogden "We don't have the gays and lesbians with us" he said Because of questions raised by those statements Hatch wanted to explain himself In an interview with The Salt Uke Tribune Hatch said his views are rooted In his Mormon faith and he merely was pointing out 'hat "gays and lesbians by and large are very Intelligent highly educated high-earning people who support mainly Democrats" The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said "choice" Is a factor In sexuality "It's I religious belief to me that homosexuality flies in the fare of biblical teachings Now where I have difficulties Ijj In determining whether It's a gcnctlyre- WEATHER: Partly cloudy skies with thunderstorms possible late in the day In the far north Mostly sunny tround the rest of the state W8 gt A-10 Se HATCH 3.