Evening star., 1953-06-09


with property damage estimated
Deoth List in Michigan 0nd Ohio
Tornado. Poge A-3
"Giont Hand" Tossed Him Around House.
Tornodo Survivor Soys. POse A-5
at $40 million. The Flint tornado
struck near the northern limits
of the city. wiping out a 40-row
residential housing area. City Of
ficials fear the Flint death will
go much higher.
Erie, Mich.-Four dead. Prop
erty damage confined mostly to
cars and trucks on highways.
The twister lodged Erie proper
by mile, spending its force on
rural areas.
Four Die at TawaS City.
Tawas City, Mich.-Four dead
(all members of one family on
a vacation in TawaS City, a re-
sort .area). Property damage
confined to a few buildings.
Ann Arbor, Mich.-One per-
son reported dead. Tornado
missed Ann Arbor proper, in
f1icting most of its force on near
by Milford and Pleasant Lake.
Milford suffered property dam
age estimated at $500,000.
Brown City, Mich.-One dead.
Little damage reported in this
rural Papeer County town.
Cleveland, Ohio-Eight dead.
Tornado cut a 10-mile path, in
flicting property damage esti-
mated at SO million.
Elyria, Ohio - One dead.
Houses and several buildings de-
stroyed.
Ceylon, Ohio-One dead.
Wood County, including Cyg-
net, Ohio-Eight dead. Heavy
damage to homes and buildings.
First Twister Hits Erie, Mich.
The new tornadoes struck
Michigan while the State was
still cleaning up the May 81
twister that whirled through the
outskirts of Port Huron, Mich,
and jumped the st. Clair River
and tore through Sarnia, Ont.
The first tornado last night
lashed Erie, Mich, just over the
Michigan-Ohio line from Tole-
do, Ohio, at 6:25 pm. EST. At
8:10 pm. twister hedge-hopped
through Washtenaw County, IS
miles to the north and swept
into Milford, Oakland County, Is
miles to the northeast. Tawas
City, midway up the eastern
coast of Michigan on Lake
Huron, was hit at 8:25 pm. and
Flint at 8:45 pm.
The tornado area extended
from Tawas City down across
the Ohio Michigan border to
Bowling Green-a path of $50
miles.
In Flint, a heavily Industrial
lied city of 10000 about 70
miles north of Detroit, hospitals
were filled with the injured
many crowded into corridors still
stunned by the swift destruction
that hit their homes.
Gov. Williams at Scene.
National Guard troops, State
police and police officers from
numerous Michigan cities con-
verged on the Flint area to aid
in the rescue work. Gov. G..
Mennen Williams took personal
command, but did not declare a
state of martial law.
The Flint tornado killed many
in homes on Coldwater road and
Kurtz street before it hedge
hoped eastward through Mich
igan's thumb" toward Lake
Huron.
1t was so powerful it tossed
huge trailer trucks off highways
and smashed brick houses as
though they were matchboxes.
One eyewitness said:
1T sounded like the rum
bling of a train"
State officials said the Flint
disaster probably was the great
est in Michigan's history.
Donald S. Leonard, Detroit
police commissioner, said the
'twister damage was worse than
he saw in London during the
"blitZ."
Gov. Williams asked President
Eisenhower to declare the Flint
area, as we'll as other Michigan
communities. disaster" areas.
The American Red Cross in
Washington allocated $lOO, 900
for relief.
Flint was a sorrowful town this
morning. Relatives trooped
(Cao -OrNA@~ 49, a.