Two Dozen Tornadoes sweep US Midwest
Pastor Dale Morgan
Two Dozen Tornadoes sweep US Midwest*
Oct 19 06:55 PM US/Eastern
By TIM MARTIN
Associated Press Writer
LOCKE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A couple spending their first night in a
new house were among at least six people killed as unusually severe
October storms destroyed homes, downed trees and knocked out power in
several states, authorities said Friday.
The thunderstorms, which spawning at least two dozen tornadoes and
extremely high winds throughout the midwest, sent a mobile home in
Missouri flying, killing another couple, destroyed homes in Michigan and
Indiana and collapsed a trailer in Kentucky as they struck Thursday and
early Friday.
In Washington state, where one person died, a floating bridge buffeted
by powerful wind was closed, and tens of thousands of homes and
businesses lost electricity.
The bodies of Duane Bentley and Susan Bentley, both in their 50s, were
recovered Friday morning, hours after tornadoes, strong winds and
oversized hail pushed through much of Michigan, overturning vehicles and
destroying homes.
The Bentley's home was ripped off its foundation and sent into a nearby
pond in Ingham County's Locke Township, near Lansing, police said.
A 29-year-old man was killed when strong wind collapsed his home around
him in Kalkaska County.
In Millington Township, a 14-month-old boy in a crib escaped injury
after apparently being tossed about 40 feet by a tornado that destroyed
a home early Friday, fire officials said.
A neighbor found the baby under a pile of debris, still in the crib.
"Sometimes miracles happen," firefighter Dan Detgen said.
National Weather Service officials in Gaylord believe as many as four
tornadoes, plus a water spout over an area lake, may have touched down
in Kalkaska, Cheboygan, Alpena and Mio.
"This is extremely rare," said David Lawrence, a National Weather
Service meteorologist in Gaylord. "When you're this deep into the month
of October, it's a very rare event."
In rural northeastern Missouri, the state Highway Patrol said Kent
Ensor, 44, and Kristy Secrease, 25, had sought refuge in Secrease's
mobile home in Monroe County as a tornado approached. Their bodies were
found about 400 feet from where the home had been.
The mobile home's frame was found three-quarters of a mile away, with
debris as far as two miles away. The National Weather Service said the
storm traveled a mile and had winds as high as 135 mph.
Ensor and Secrease had been dating for about a year, friends and family
said.
"Everybody knows everybody here," said Jim Lovelady, who moved to the
Paris area in 1994. "This hurts."
A line of thunderstorms that rumbled through Kentucky produced several
tornadoes, smashing mobile homes and injuring at least 11 people in
Owensboro. The most serious injury was a broken leg, said Richard Payne,
Daviess County director of emergency management.
The storms forced officials to briefly close the Glover Cary Bridge,
which carries traffic across the Ohio River between Indiana and
Kentucky. A Kentucky Transportation Cabinet inspector was called to
check the structure following an apparent tornado, but no damage was
found, cabinet spokesman Keith Todd said.
In Indiana, authorities declared a state of emergency after a tornado
hit Nappanee, about 20 miles southeast of South Bend. Police said five
people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries and 200 to 250
buildings were damaged, half of them severely. Among the businesses
damaged there were three recreation vehicle plants that are among the
city's largest employers.
A tornado in Pensacola, Fla., sent mall shoppers and children at the
Greater Little Rock Baptist Church's daycare center running for safety
just before the twister hit Thursday morning, said Escambia County
sheriff's spokesman Glenn Austin.
In western Washington, where wind gusts reached 66 mph Thursday, a woman
was injured when the top of a tree hit her in the head in Kent, fire
officials said. A Seattle police patrol boat, responding to an emergency
call of a kite boarder being dragged north on Lake Washington, found a
44-year-old man floating face down off Kirkland on the east side of the
lake, police said.
The wind resulted in a three-hour precautionary closure of State Route
104 across Hood Canal, which separates the Kitsap and Olympia peninsulas.
___
Associated Press writers David Aguilar and David Runk in Detroit, Alan
Scher Zagier in Paris, Mo., Melissa Nelson in Pensacola, Fla., and Tom
Coyne in Nappanee, Ind., contributed to this report.