Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 25, 1993 TAG: 9304250177
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TULSA, OKLA. LENGTH: Medium
Jerry Griffin, an inspector for the Tulsa County Sheriff's Department, said hundreds of people were left homeless and at least 50 injured.
"I think that's very conservative," he said. "I doubt anybody can tell until the sun comes up what happened."
Tom Feuerborn, director of civil emergency management for the state, confirmed the dead. He did not have an accurate count on the injured.
Tulsa police Maj. Mark Andrus said three or four bodies had been pulled out of wrecked vehicles along Interstate 44 east of Tulsa.
Seven miles of the highway was closed for an hour because of the wrecks.
The tornado tossed tractor-trailer rigs and downed power lines. Two major truck stops on I-44 were turned into scattered piles of rubble.
The roof of a school in Catoosa, a suburb of Tulsa, was torn off, Tulsa Police Chief Ron Palmer said.
"We're concerned about Catoosa. Apparently they sustained serious damage, but we can't get through to them," Andrus said. Nightfall hampered search efforts.
Linda and Brian Jones, truck drivers from Lebanon, Ind., were in a Catoosa truck stop when the tornado moved in without notice. They huddled against each other in the rig.
"I'm not sure what came through the window and hit me in the head," she said, wrapped in a blanket in a bus for a ride to a hospital. Her husband was uninjured.
As did other truckers, Larry Stern of Lake Minnesota, Minn., said the tornado came too quickly to hide.
"There was nowhere to go. No way," Stern said as he plucked shards of glass from his hair. His rig was blown across the parking lot and was leaning against another truck.
Sheets of metal were wrapped around whatever poles were left standing near the truck stops. Families who escaped from their vehicles walked around dazed, clinging to pillows, blankets and other possessions.
Helicopters carried the injured to hospitals. Triage units were ready.
"The hospitals all reported they are backing up. They are taking care of the worst first," said Louis Vanlandingham, an assistant to Tulsa Mayor Susan Savage.
The tornado tossed mobile homes and collapsed the roof of Memorial United Methodist Church in Tulsa. Winds were clocked at 80 mph.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB