Twisters Rage From Texas to Kentucky

Waves of thunderstorms with damaging wind, tornadoes and large hail ripped off roofs and damaged mobile homes early today from Texas into Kentucky, and scores of people remained homeless after the killer tornadoes that scoured the Ohio Valley.

Relatively few injuries were reported in the latest round of storms, which were blamed for derailing a train stalled by heavy hail in Arkansas and destroying small businesses in one Texas town.

Six people were killed and more than 100 were injured Monday when tornadoes and high wind caused at least an estimated $20 million damage in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. National Guardsmen kept up patrols in three cities.

20-Second Disaster

A tornado that struck the small eastern Texas community of Pineland this morning destroyed three small businesses, unroofed two mobile homes and knocked out electricity. No injuries were reported.

“The people I talked to said it all happened within 15 or 20 seconds. The whole area isn’t more than a mile long and only a couple of hundred yards wide, but it touched down about three different places,” said Chuck Corley, city utilities superintendent.

Thunderstorms and tornadoes also caused scattered damage elsewhere in Texas. The storms forced some airplanes to divert from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to other airports.

Baseball-Size Hail

Hail as big as baseballs broke windows in Breckenridge, Tex., and a service station attendant in Elbert said marble-size hail covered the ground “like snow.” Hail piled up two inches deep on Interstate 55 north of Memphis, Tenn.

Tornadoes were presumed responsible for damaging a school, derailing three-dozen cars of a freight train, overturning six tractor-trailer rigs and injuring two people in Arkansas, the weather service said.

Thunderstorms and possible tornadoes raked Kentucky from the Hopkinsville area northeastward into the central part of the state, causing at least six injuries, damaging homes and farm buildings, and knocking out electricity. Three mobile homes were destroyed near Bowling Green and Paducah got 2.37 inches of rain.

In Mississippi, Charleston Mayor Robert Rowe said high wind damaged roofs, blew off a church steeple and destroyed mobile classrooms. Scattered damage and funnel clouds were reported elsewhere around the state.