The Mail-Journal, Volume 11, Number 11, Milford, Kosciusko County, 10 April 1974 — Page 25

Leesburg businesses fake cheating as tornado passes

Businesses along state road 15 in Leesburg took a beating as the tornado which struck the county last Wednesday moved toward the northeast. The building at Polk Farm Equipment is a total loss and the large supply of farm equipment on display there is nothing but rubble as it was blown far and wide by the winds. Tusing Brothers Lumber Company lost one of its buildings and another is roofless. The roof is also off of J.B.’s car wash owned by Jerry Brown. The mobile home owned by Mrs. Peg Green is a total loss and the garage roof is off at the Barry Beatty property. Doors at Dytronics were crumpled on the east side and nearly every window in the Duane Dye home was shattered. The huge storage cylinders of the Leesburg elevator were crumpled and grain spilled over street and railway. Damage was reported at the Leesburg school. Trees and huge limbs were down all over town and many residents suffered minor damages to their property as the winds swept through town leaving a trail of debris in its path. Crews were out immediately after the dangers of the storm were passed to clean up where they could and by Thursday evening the business block was cleared and most of the fallen trees had been removed from town.

Polk Farm Center Ruined More Polk Farm Equipment Destruction

School In Session School is in session at the Leesburg school with four classrooms being vacated where there was structural damage. Those classrooms will not be used until cables can be put in and necessary repairs made. The roof was torn off the gym and the ventilating systems were

Damage not serious in Warsaw, electricity off

While there was no major storm damage in the city of Warsaw the electricity was off in the county seat causing several problems for the residents there as well as residents in numerous other county Factory employees and school children received unexpected vacations as power was off both Thursday and Friday. When the generator at the Murphy Medical Center overheated members of the Whitley county sheriff’s department brought another in to be used during the emergency. REMC Robert Merkle of the Kosciusko County Rural Electric Membership Corporation said Monday his company’s electric supply is limited. They have no back up. The people served by REMC have enough electricity to do most of the things they want to

blown from the roof. The chimney toppled, going through the roof of the building leaving a 20 by 20 hole. As of yesterday, roof repairs had been made and other repairs were continuing. No projection has been made as to a cost figure on the total damages to the school

do, but Merkle warned, they should not go to extremes on usage. REMC crews worked night and day to restore the power. The county employees were joined by crews from Martinsville, Wabash and Columbia City. Customers who could were receiving power by Saturday evening. The REMC is still receiving calls from areas which were hit by the storm where seasonable homes were demolished. There is no real figure on the estimate of damage to REMC lines to date, a rough guess of $50,000 has been made but Merkle said they would not worry about that until all repairs are finished. NIPSCo At NIPSCo Chuck Heim, district manager, said they were cutting to 16 hours as of Monday. Crews had been working around the clock to restore service to customers. Customers who were ready to receive power were served on Saturday evening. There were several miles in the district that needed to be gone back over and checked out as much work was done on a temporary basis. Heim said everyone in Atwood has service. A total of 10 construction crews came from Gary and help also came in from the Goshen district, working from Wednesday midnight until Saturday night. Construction crews from Gary will be in the county at least another week and a half. A rough estimate of damage to the transmission and lines is estimated at $600,000. Disaster committee meeting at Atwood A meeting of the disaster advisory committee of Kosciusko county was held last night (Tuesday) at the center in Atwood. Among those attending the meeting were the following: Forrest D. Miner, George Lenke, United Fund representative Stanley Pequignot. Bob Jones, Noble Blocker, Al Heierman, Gordon Brubaker, William A. Orr, county auditor Lawrence Butts who represented the county commissioners, Donald E. Frantz. Warsaw ministers association president Rev. Gene Kuehn, Warsaw community school superintendent Dr Max Hobbs, Kosciusko county welfare director Howard Johnson, Donald D. Robinson, Lloyd Perkins, Wayne township trustee Ed Pratt, Major Ehmcke of the Salvation Army, Rev. Herbert E. Edwards, Red Cross board treasurer Dr. Norman Upbouse, Robert E. Davis and Robert Nichols.

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Destruction At Every Turn

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Leesburg Grain Elevators Damaged

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Leesburg Elevator Bins Down

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Talma School Destroyed