Evening star., 1960-05-06
Il Killed, 224 Injured as Tornodoes
Hit Towns in Oklahoma, Arkansas
By The Associated Press

Rescue workers today dug
through rain-soaked debris Of
more than half-a-dozen East
ern Oklahoma towns lashed by
tornadoes which killed at least
26 persons and injured 200 or
more.
Another tornado battered the
small community of Menifee,
Ark, near Morrilton early to-
day, killing a woman and in
turing "a other residents.
The college town of Wilbur
ton was hit hardest in Okla
homa. Twelve persons were
killed and an estimated rs were
injured there. Rescue crews
feared they would find more
victims in the rubble.
Oklahoma Toll
Other tornadoeS, all in East
ern Oklahoma, also:
Killed five, including four
members of one family, and in
jured 16 in the Moffet- Roland
area next to the Arkansas bor-
ner near Fort Smith.
Killed three and injured six
near Keota.
Killed two and injured posi-
bly, 10 persons in Sapulpa, just
southeast of Tulsa.
Killed one person in a rural
area north of Sallisaw and
killed another person at a cross
roads community near Che
cotah.
Killed two and injured IL
south of Bristow.
Injured 13 persons in the
Hoffman community near Hen
ryetta
Two blocks of downtown Will
burton were wrecked and the
rest of the business section was
heavily damaged. The city hall
was blown away.
Section Leveled
The twister, which struck
shortly after $50 last night.
bored a path up the east side
residential area. Homes in an
area five blocks by three blocks
were almost all leveled accord
ing to Sergt. Henry Mooney
ham of the nearby McAlester
police department. Another is
blocks of homes we're heavily
damaged.
Eastern AIM Junior College,
on the west side of town, es-
capped serious damage.
The dead at Wilburton we're
identified as Mrs. Maggie Back,
about IS; James r. Parks, about
so; Mrs. James r. Brady, about
65; her son, Mike Brady, about
As; Truman Clark, about As;
Gordon Mote, about so; Mrs.
Villa Dean Reaves, 35: Mrs.
Fred Clawson, Isaac Turnbow,
Dovie Angeland, Mrs. Eessie
McGhee and her son, Jimmy
Ray Allen, about 16.
Biggest town hit by the twist
ers was Sapulpa, an industrial
city of $4,000, just southwest of
Tulsa.
Killed there were Mrs. Lille
Wright, 81, and Lee Berming-
ham, 81.
in Family Killed
Mrs. William MCGUIRE and
three of her children, a son
and two daughters, were killed
on their farm near Roland.
Six other MCGUIRE children
we're hospitalized with injuries
at a Fort Smith hospital. The
husband and father was work.
ing in Fort Smith at the time, |
officers said.
Also killed near Moffett was
Leamon Lee Bowren, 33, of
West Memphis, Ark. His truck
was picked up by a twister along
U. S. highway "a and slammed |.
to the earth.
Conway County (ArkD Sher-
if Marlin Hawkins said the
twister in Menifee, destroyed
IL houses, two churches, the
post Office and a high school.
Sheriff Hawkins directed res
cue efforts of police and civil
defense workers. He said the
tornado "left just about every
thing in splinters. The dead
woman was identified as Ora
Oliver, 10.
Other Towns Struck
State police reported the
same tornado skipped along the
bottomlands of the Arkansas
River, causing property damage
and some injuries in the COM
munities of Portland Bottoms,
Guy and Greenbrier.
Searcy, approximately 70I
miles east of Morrilton on the
Little Red River and near the
path of a disastrous 1852 tor
nado, also was struck. A
mother and two young daugh-
ters were injured when their
house collapsed.
Other damage from winds