Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 24, 1991 TAG: 9103240125
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SELMER, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
"All I can remember is rolling over and over, and people screaming," Jerry Inman said as he picked through the rubble of his used-car business. "I don't know how any of us lived through it."
Ten people had sought shelter from the storm in a mobile home that served as Inman's office. The tornado left only the trailer's twisted metal chassis.
Inman and his wife, Peggy, ended up 150 yards from the trailer's original location. A prospective customer was killed when the twister dropped a car on him.
Inman and his wife suffered cuts and his son-in-law, Michael Sawyer, suffered head injuries. They were treated at a hospital, but the others in the trailer had less serious injuries.
The tornado hospitalized 17 Selmer residents and dozens were treated for cuts and bruises.
Three other Tennessee residents also were killed, and an 11-year-old boy was killed in Kentucky when his grandparents' mobile home was slammed against a tree.
In Minnesota, freezing rain, snow and strong winds Saturday toppled an 850-foot ice-covered television tower, hundreds of trees and power lines in the Duluth area.
No injuries were reported, but Minnesota Power reported power outages affecting thousands of homes. The outages disrupted 911 emergency telephone service in Duluth for several hours.
Tornadoes also struck parts of Iowa, northeastern Mississippi and eastern Illinois.
Inman said there was little warning that a serious storm was approaching, but people began seeking shelter in his office when it started to rain. When the rain turned violent and the wind began to roar, Inman said he yelled for everyone to hit the floor.
Thirteen businesses in the small town were damaged and five houses were destroyed, according to preliminary state figures. Twenty-five houses suffered major damage in Selmer. Five mobile homes were demolished, and the town's two high schools suffered about $500,000 in damage, said Steve Smith of McNairy County Emergency Management Agency.
About 95 percent of surrounding McNairy County was without electricity and probably will be until Monday, Smith said.
The hardest-hit parts of southwestern Kentucky appeared to be in the Dripping Springs and Lickskillet sections of Logan County near Olmstead.
Logan County deputy coroner Dale Shields said an 11-year-old boy who had been visiting his grandparents in their Dripping Springs mobile home died of head injuries. The grandparents remained hospitalized Saturday.
by CNB