Evening star., 1948-03-27
Tornudoes
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about 80 miles west of Indianapolis
and so miles east of Terre Haute.
State police set up temporary
headquarters at Coatesville under
the personal direction of Col. Robert
Rossow, superintendent.
A temporary hospital was set up
in a school building there. The
more seriously injured were given
emergency treatment and taken to
hospitals at indianapolis and Green
castle.
AS bodies we're located they were
taken to an improvised morgue in
business building.
Albert Sechman, about 60. who
lives in the undamaged part of
Coatesville, said he saw the storm
approaching the town. He described
it as huge and very dark cloud
coming low down"
Saw Houses Collapse.
Mr.. Sechman said he saw houses
collapse and rushed to the scene
after the storm passed. He said he
saw the bodies of Postmaster Frank
Elicit and his wife in the ruins of
their home.
II could see strips of sheet metal
and silo staves whirling around high
in the air like buzzards," Mr.. Sech-
man said.
The top story of the Danville
telephone building was blown of,
but operators continued handling
calls for time before being forced
to abandon the exchange. The In
diana Bell Telephone Co. sent a
portable switchboard from Indian
apolis and said 1t hoped to have
| limited service some time today.
The roof Of the Danville Christian
Church was blown off, and many
utility poles and trees were down.
The east part of the town, in which
Canterbury College is located, was
not damaged.
Killed as Home Collapses.
In Clay County, Mrs. Ruth Dier-
doff, So, was killed as her farm home
collapsed. Her son. Dale Leroy, 7,
was blown from the house and was
injured. Her husband, Ralph DER
doff, who said he threw himself
down beside fence when he saw
he could not reach the house before
the storm struck, was injured seri-
ously.
AS the storm moved on toward
Anderson, Albert Whetsel, 81, was
killed in his demolished home north
west of Fortville on State road 238.
His daughter. Bess, IS, escaped with
minor injuries.
Mr.. and Mrs. John w. Haase Of
Alexandria, in northern Madison
County, suffered minor injuries when
their house collapsed. Their infant
son was unhurt.
Twister in Missouri.
Another twister swept over an
area along the Mississippi River
near the Missouri-nlinois line at st.
Charles, Mo. No deaths were re-
ported in the region, where last
weeks tornadoes took the lives OF
more than a score of persons.
A mother and her two sons were
killed near Paris, H., near the storm
area, in an automobile-truck col
lision during a driving hailstorm.
Stormy weather was general over
most sections of the Central States
yesterday. Strong winds. rain, hail,
sleet and snow swept over the area.
The rains diminished today after
falls from Eastern and Central Ar
kansas northward into Eastern Iowa
and through the Ohio Valley and
Lower Lakes region.
Snow, sleet and high winds snap
ped communication lines in the
Dakotas and Nebraska. Dust storms
were reported in Oklahoma after
Thursday nights tornado in the
eastern part of the State. Cooler
weather spread over most Of the
North Central region today as the
rains diminished, moving eastward.
Some sections reported temperature
drops of 30 degrees,