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Page 11 text:
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Wh ¥: WennON REGIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE WILBARGER COUNTY JUNIOR COLLEGE DISTRICT 4400 College Drive - Vernon. Texas 76384 Aree Code 617 562-429) April 27, 1979 TO Ald) VRIC 3 7UCYEes his STINE 7s I am aware that none of you were motivated to pitch in and help those who had been hurt by the tomado in hopes of being thanked for your efforts. Rather, it was a simple feeling of wanting to do something to help those who were much less fortu- nate than we in this disaster. In fact, I heard many of you mention a feeling of frustration because you really didn't know what assistance you could provide rather than just moving debris. Many, many of you did more than would be expected in going the second mile! I will not begin to mention names for I would surely leave out sameone most deserving. However, it was obvious that VRJC personnel were doing more than their share to assist our neighbors in this commumity. May I take this opportunity to offer a personal thank you to each and every one of you who provided assistance during that week. I truly believe that each of you demonstrated a sincere desire to be of service to your commmity, and what more could anyone ask for an institution such as ours. Your efforts were appreciated by many in Vernon who have been aware of your will- ingness to help. I suppose there would be no more appropriate way to close this than to express our thankfulness that the tornado did not totally devastate our College. We were very fortunate indeed! Jim M.; Williams Presi fe OMA sim. The 1979 Trailblazer is dedicated to those faculty, staff, and stu- den who unselfishly contributed their assistance to the victims of the April 10 tornado which devastated South Vernon. We give a special thanks to Larry Crabtree of the Vernon Daily Record who made it pos- sible to document the tornado i in the following section.
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Page 10 text:
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Section C Page | (AP)—ASSOCIATED Deadly Twister Rips into 12 Killed, 60 Hurt KILLER TORNADO—A killer tornado which spread death and destruction through Wilbarger County and Vernon at mid- afternoon Tuesday is pictured here as it formed near the Dennis Lingnau home in the Five-in-one community. The twister, a broad-based funnel that came during a storm that shrouded the of Dennis Lingnau) Souvenir President Carter Thursday morning in Washington signed official documents declaring Vernon—along with a much harderhit Wichita Falls—as a federal disaster area, opening the way for possible massive infusions of government assistance to residents whose homes or businesses were damaged or destroyed by Tuesday's killer tornado The announcement came from Congressman Jack Hig htower as authorities reassessed the death and injury toll, lowering Section Photos | of Tornado Law enforcement officers from a wide area of Texas and Oklahoma began heading home Thursday night and the National Guard released its forces as the emergency nature of rescue and salvage operations following Tuesday's tornado ended here Friday Emphasis turned Friday morning toward long-term cleanup and disaster relief as Stories, enn | Town Crier Security Key Issue The most devastating tornado in recent Vernon history struck three weeks after the resignation of Ed Luttrell Jr. as the community's civil defense director Mr. Luttrell had built a network of weatherwatch teams and established a communications headquarters under the stage at Wilbarger Auditonum, where Dan Osborne, vice president of Osborne Distnbuting Company, handled com munications for the storm rescue effort Although County Judge Bob Arnold, the official head of civil defense in Wilbarger County was aware of the resignation, and City Manager Sam Phelps had the letter of resignation on his desk Mayor Hamp Naylor had not known of it Mr Luttrell worked as a volunteer dinating the entire operation fell pnmarily to City Manager Sam Phelps and the two top law en forcement officers in the community, Shenff Clinton Russell and Chief of Police Wayne Hendnx The State Highway Patrol set up its headquarters at the Nationa] Guard Armory and National Guard had some 17 people assisting with patrol and guard duty on a voluntary basis to prevent looting Ma). Charles Cook of Vernon, a former local unit ommander who is now assigned to a different stalion, was Coordinating activities for the national but coor guard All Guard vehicles were on patrol, aud sentries (Bee TOWN CRIER, Page 14C— PRESS community in darkness, swept eastward south of Vernon and along the east side of the city, resulting in damage that authorities said would reach into the millions. (Photo Courtesy one and raising the other The American Red Cross also completed its survey of local residences, reporting a total of 125 homes either heavily damaged or destroyed Congressman Hightower also announced that he had just been in communication with Mayor Ed Koch of New York City, who had made arrangements to telephone Vernon Mayor Hamp Naylor shortly before noon of- fering special assistance from the people of the City of New York Attention Guardsmen and officers removed barricades and reopened free access t o the devastated areas High praise for the response in the face of the tragedy. which left 11 dead and 67 injured, came from all quarters Ma) James Cook of the Texas National Guard said that only one case of looting was officially reported and the individual SPEAKS AT PRAYER BREAKFAST—Congressman Jack Hightower Friday morning addresses a community wide prayer breakfast which drew some 115 persons to an event at the Village Inn Restaurant in which seating for only 110 persons was and Wilbarger Center at Wilbarger Auditorium had simply been overwhelmed with the generousity of people from throughout the area, as well as other states involved gave the material stolen back to authorities VERNON, TEXAS The Vernon National Guard Unit was ordered to duty and DPS and law enforcement of ficers from a wide area of Oklahoma swarmed into Vernon Wednesday as cleanup activities began following a killer tornado which devastated a wide area of south and east Vernon Authorities said that 12 people were dead and as many as 60 persons injured, with property damage running into the millions of dollars Not all the dead were immediately iden ufied Sullivan Funeral Home had 10 bodies on hand at one occasion and Wilbarger General Hospital was swamped with patients and bodies as the toll in the storm, which came only minutes after sounding of the Civil Defense sirens here Time the tornado struck was fixed at about 3:50 to 3:55 pm., depending upon the location The dead who could be iden tified were listed as —Mrs. Pat Shelton and daughter, Lou Ann, fatally in jJured at their home —Ben F. Willis, 45, a con struction supervisor at Celanese Stein-Hall —Mrs. Vivian Kelley, reported from Earth (From THURSDAY, April 12, Vernon Declared ‘Disaster Area’ Federal, New York City Assistance Offered Just what form the assistance from the nation’s largest city would take wasn't immediately known In the meantime the Red Cross Civil Defense Red Cross Executive Secretary Mrs Georgia Mount sounded an urgent request for individuals to bring no more food or clothing to the center She urns after apprehension then joined a Mrs. Clyde Bagley, who resided on Eastland, Street, also killed at her residence Gregory Martinez resident Jack Avant of Grandfield Okla , killed in an automobile on US. Highway 287 —Mr and Mrs Norton of Olustee, Okla , a local James M killed Tue Vernon Dairy REcorD VERNON DAILY RECORD, Vernon, Texas, Sun , Apr. 15, 1979 ernon Building was destroyed, as well as Texas Highway Department warehouses Congressman Jack Hightower announced at midmorning Wednesday that a presidential declaration of Vernon and Wichita Falls as a disaster area is expected momentarily At that point the Federal (From WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1979, Vernon Dally Record) when their car was flung from US Highway 287 near Cardinal Equipment Company Mrs. James Collings of Albuquerque, N M —Mrs. Cecelia Neason, 2, of Thalia, whose husband is em ployed in Crowell Most heavily damaged area of Vernon was the business section along east Wilbarger, where the Sands Motel, Canton Cafe, a truck stop, Merchants Motor Frieght, and Cardinal Equip- ment Company on the U.S. 287 Expressway at Lovers Lane were totally destroyed A multi-block residential section in southeast Vernon on Atlanta, Gordon and other streets was also devastated The Wilbarger Exhibit 1979, Vernon Dally Record) requested that cash donations be made to the Red Cross Disaster Fund, and pledged that every penny given would be spent for relief of local victims of the tornado Congressman Hightower said that Joe Winkle, regional ad- ministrator for the Federal District Assistance Administration office, is on his way to Wichita Falls to establish a disaster center there He said that an office will also be set up in Vernon, adding that the offices will coordinate the Disaster Assistance Administration will set up disaster centers in Vernon and in Wichita Falls, he said Those centers will be able to coordinate assistance for people who have had da mage He said that in the event of slight damage to homes, federal grants will be available For homes destroyed or made unlivable, two options will be available: If a house or apart- ment are available for rent, the FDAA will pay the rent for up to one year Where homes or apartments are not available for rent, mobile homes will be provided rent free The powerful tornado, which tossed heavy trucks, tractors various relief activities that are necessary ‘He plans to be here for several months. It's going to be a long-term thing to get it done,” the Congressma n continued. ‘'As soon as we know something aboul timing, where people should go, that will be an- nounced also. The Congressman, State ASC Committeeman and Local ASCS Executive Russell Gorman jointly announced the opening of a special disaster center at the SCS agriculture service center and farm equipment around like toys, left the community dazed R D Bearley, local refrigeration man, said he was the first individual on the scene at the Canton Cafe, where he found Bonnie Tamplen and another employee standing in the ruins They told him that Henry Huie, the cafe owner, was under the wall Mr. Huie later was rescued and released from the hospital in satisfactory condition Jerry Alexander, an employee of Cardinal Equipment Co., says he was alone in the building at the time the tornado struck, leaving the facility a shattered ruin “We really had no warning,” Mr. Alexander said. ‘We're too far out to hear the sirens. We knew the weather was getting bad, but by the time we were sure it was going to be damaging, it was too late.” Other emplaqyees in the building ran across U.S High- way 287 and down into the culvert, but Mr. Alexander said he didn't have time to get out “The building was coming apart,” he recalled. “I was behind a parts counter when it (See TORNADO, Page 4C) at 5015 College Drive This center will administer programs for the SCS, FHA, ASCS and the Small Business Administration from the con- ference room of the building Mr. Gorman said that rural and urban residents of both Foard and Hardeman Counties are being asked to come there for information about relief that can be offered City Manager Sam Phelps, one of the local coordinators of relief activity, said that the City had ( See DISASTER, Page 4C) o Storm Cleanup 200 truckloads of rubble and debris had been hauled to the former City dump west of US (From FRIDAY, April 13, 1979, Vernon Dally Record) cleanup crew City Street Supt Kirk Ham mer reported that as many as Highway 282 north of the Pease River by Department City and Highway trucks, and that initially provided. Individuals of all faiths were involved, with attention turned primarily to Tuesday's storm disaster in which 11 persons were killed and 67 injured, with property damage going into the millions of dollars (Record Photo) further work was simply awaiting the signing of necessary forms to allow lots of demolished homes to be cleared Measures for dealing with the long-term effects of the disaster also drew major attention Wes Anders and Jack Schlueter of the Texas Depart- ment of Public Safety Disaster Emergency Services met with Wilbarger and Foard County officials Friday morning at the Wilbarger County Courthouse for a briefing on disaster relief A one-stop center for disaster relief, where all relief agencies will be set up, will open at 9a.m Saturday at Wilbarger Memorial Auditorium and close at 7 p.m Sunday's hours will be 14 pm and the center will (See CLEANUP Page 4C) PRAYER BREAKFAST Thanks Is Offered In Tragedy Wake By ORLIN BREWER Their eyes and hearts were turned to the families of the dead and injured, but they also of- fered thanks in the wake of a community tragedy that had left 11 dead, 67 injured and millions of dollars in damage here “Guide us in love and wisdom as we rebuild, ’ the Rev Lee Crouch, pastor of the First United Met hodist Church, prayed in a benediction that followed a period of ‘‘silent’’ prayer in which the low voices of some could be heard as heads were bowed in individual sup plication The event was. the first communitywide prayer break fast, which had been planned for months, but seemed uniquely appropriate to many of those present after the forces of nature had wrought disaster here Tuesday Principal Speaker Jack Hightower told the group, “words are inadequate to ex- press our sympathy to those who lost loved ones and property in the storm But he added, ‘We have so much to be grateful for, suggesting, ‘we demonstrated it in how we have responded in the emergency. in the face of tragedy. It didn't surprise me. He suggested it is the spiritual strength of local churches and Christians that has made the People in Vernon ‘different’ from the people of Jerusalem who first welcomed Jesus, then cried for his crucifixion He cited the location of a $1 billion West Texas Utilities Company generating plant here as an indication of new changes which will come But he said from those to whom more is given, more is expected “We live in Him after the resurrection,” he said, adding (See PRAYER, Page 4C) — =
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