Tornadoes, Storms Pound Midwest, South; Four Dead

Tornadoes and thunderstorms packing “hurricane-force winds” raked the nation’s midsection from Illinois to the Deep South on Friday, destroying buildings and homes, toppling trees and towers and killing four persons.

Three dozen persons were injured and widespread power outages were reported as the tornadoes and high winds struck Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama.

Meanwhile, tanker planes dumped water on woodland blazes that have scorched nearly 70,000 acres, killed one person and injured at least 23 in eight Southeastern states. Governors of South Carolina and Kentucky declared states of emergency because of the fires.

Some Alabama Roads Closed

In Alabama, twisters and storms toppled trees, overturned trailer homes and damaged houses. At least 20 Alabama counties reported power outages, and roads were closed in several areas because of fallen trees.

Two persons died in their car when high winds struck Roanoke, Ala., and “a big limb fell off a tree and crushed both of them,” Randolph County Sheriff Fred May said. At least 10 other persons were injured in other parts of the state.

Winds gusting to 65 m.p.h. in Marion, Ohio, toppled a tree on a 2-year-old boy, killing him, Marion County sheriff’s deputies said.

At least 70 homes were damaged in Illinois, where one man died near Tilden when high winds demolished his mobile home, Randolph County Coroner Neil Birchler said.

“It just looked like a disaster area,” Birchler said. “It was apparently tossed about 20 to 30 feet from its pads, and there was just nothing left of it.”

High winds also severely damaged a one-room schoolhouse west of Nashville on Illinois 15 and knocked out electrical and telephone service to some Tilden-area residents.

Greg Durham, spokesman for the Emergency Services and Disaster Agency in Springfield, Ill., said that 20 to 30 mobile homes were destroyed or extensively damaged and that 30 to 40 frame homes were damaged. “The situation is under evaluation right now,” he said.

Three commercial buildings were also damaged.

Tornadoes touched down in at least seven places in south-central Indiana, but no injuries were reported, meteorologist Paul Hunt said in Louisville, Ky.

Six barns were blown down north of DePauw, in southern Indiana, and downed utility lines and trees were blocking roads, state police Lt. John White said. A gust of 62 m.p.h. hit Muncie.

In the Southeast, the storms provided some relief for firefighters as they doused flames across Alabama and Georgia and dampened fires in Tennessee and Kentucky. But hot weather and flame-fanning wind gusts persisted in many areas.

Injuries Tied to Fires

In Georgia and North Carolina, 22 persons, most of them firefighters, were treated for injuries in the blazes. In South Carolina, a firefighter who suffered burns to the arms was treated and returned to battle a 1,000-acre blaze.

“Low humidity and high winds make for a deadly combination,” said Jerry Harrison, fire weather forecaster for the National Weather Service in South Carolina, where a firefighter died when trapped by a blaze earlier in the week.

“I talked to a couple of firefighters--tired, exhausted,” fire tower operator Janelle Rivers said in Marlboro County, S.C. “They’re trying to keep their wits about them.”

Govs. Richard W. Riley of South Carolina and Martha Layne Collins of Kentucky declared states of emergency because of the fires, which charred nearly 20,000 acres in South Carolina and 23,000 acres in Kentucky.

North Carolina Gov. James G. Martin said that the blazes caused “a major emergency” but he stopped short of a declaration. Officials estimated that the fires caused at least $2 million damage in North Carolina.