3COM Weather Report: Clinton Will Survey Florida Tornado Damage
07:01 a.m. Feb 24, 1998 Eastern
ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - A deadly swarm of tornadoes killed at
least 38 people and smashed homes and businesses across four Florida
counties, prompting President Clinton to offer federal disaster
aid.
More than 100 people were hospitalized, hundreds of homes and
businesses were destroyed and other people were missing by
nightfall Monday, some 18 hours after the deadliest natural
disaster in Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Emergency workers earlier had reported 39 deaths but then
corrected the figure.
Clinton will survey the damage Wednesday. The president said federal
disaster relief aid was being made available to tornado-stricken
families and local governments in Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Seminole
and Volusia counties under an extended major disaster declaration
issued Jan. 6 for Christmas Day storms there.
"Hillary and I are deeply concerned about the tragic loss of life
from these devastating tornadoes," Clinton said in a statement.
"We are also concerned about the safety and welfare of all Florida
families who have endured one damaging storm after another this year."
Spokesman Joe Lockhart said Clinton would stop in Florida on his way
to California on a previously scheduled trip.
Public safety officials faced the grim task starting at dawn
Tuesday of searching through a 75-mile trail of debris looking for
survivors and more bodies.
At one mobile home park, a father had his 18-month-old daughter
torn from his grasp by swirling winds that reached speeds in
excess of 250 mph.
"The baby was sucked right out of his arms and carried off," said
Osceola County Fire Chief Jeff Hall. The child's body was recovered
about 17 hours later.
About 30 miles away, a five-year-old girl was found wandering in
the woods about 100 yards from where her parents lay dead in the
rubble of their home, authorities said.
In Osceola County, just a few miles from Walt Disney World and
other Florida tourist attractions, at least 22 people died,
including 10 at one mobile home park, said Lt. Judy Taylor of the
sheriff's department.
"Six homes destroyed, 10 people dead, and two missing, including
an eight-month-old baby," said Taylor, ticking off the damage at
Morningside Village mobile home park.
In nearby Seminole County, public safety director Ken Roberts
counted 12 deaths. Three people were confirmed killed in Orange
County and one in Volusia County, where an elderly man was crushed
when his mobile home collapsed.
Helicopters with infrared tracking scopes searched for the heat
signatures of victims buried in the debris of collapsed houses and
overturned mobile homes, indicating that the final death toll would
not be known for a while.
In parts of Florida, curfews were in effect and county officials
invoked emergency authority to halt price gouging on generators,
batteries and bottled water. Hospitals said they were running
short of blood for transfusions.
Gov. Lawton Chiles canceled a Washington appearance with President
Clinton to return to Florida and inspect the damage.
"We grieve for you and we will do what we can to make your lives
whole again," Chiles told one group of survivors. He urged displaced
residents to head for shelters and trust law enforcement to guard
their possessions from looters.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Lee Witt
accompanied Chiles on part of his tour. The White House promised
a swift response.
Witt said survivors should be able to get their first federal aid
checks in about five days. Fourteen Florida counties were
declared disaster areas. Many suffered flooding problems but were
not hit by the tornadoes.
The winds left about 110,000 customers without electricity at the
height of the storm, authorities said. By Monday afternoon, about
66,000 homes were without power.
As many as 12 tornadoes tore through central Florida, spawned by
the southeastern edge of an El Nino-related storm system covering
much of the South and Midwest.
"It's the most devastating tornado outbreak in Florida's history,"
said meteorologist Bart Hagemeyer of the National Weather Service,
adding that some of the tornadoes hit wind speeds of 207-260 mph.
A single tornado about 200 yards wide cut a nine-mile path through
central Florida, narrowly missing the crowded tourist corridor that
includes Disney World, Universal Studios Florida and Sea World.
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