Tornado Toll Is Five Near Vinita;
Damage Estimate, $300,000

Lineman Dies While at Work On Light Pole
200 Are Treated For Wind Injuries, Then Released
 

    VINITA, May 2—The Oklahoma highway patrol Sunday afternoon counted four dead as the result of a 17-mile-long tornado which originated in the White Oak hills 14 miles southwest of Vinita Saturday night, and flattened the Grand lake resort town of Bernice before spending itself at the edge of Grove on the east side of the lake.
    A fifth fatality was added later Sunday when a public service company lineman, helping repair a highline, knocked down by the tornado at Bernice, was electrocuted.
    The quarter mile wide wind which started at 9:30 p.m. destroyed at least 38 houses including several lake cottages and farm dwellings. The highway patrol estimated total damage at $300,000.
    Three persons were still in serious condition in Vinita and Mercy hospitals here, and at Johnson hospital in Afton. One other man, also in a serious condition, is in Hillcrest hospital in Tulsa.
    Physicians in the northeast Oklahoma area treated a total of about 200 persons during the night. They worked at the scene in Bernice and in Vinita and Afton hospitals.
    Only about 50 persons, however, were seriously enough injured to be hospitalized. All but 15 have since been released.
    Dead Are Listed
    The dead, all of whom were killed at Bernice, are:
    ALVA NOAL FORNEY JR., 37, of 2442 E 4, Tulsa.
    MRS. ROSE WALLEN, 60, Bernice.
    MRS. OPAL WALLEN, 30, Bernice, daughter-in-law of Mrs. Rose Wallen.
    LATRELLE CASEY, 6, died at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Mercy hospital as a result of injuries sustained in the Bernice tornado.
    IRA JACK BURGER, 25, Vinita, Public Service Co. lineman, died at 11:25 a.m. Sunday. He was electrocuted while helping to repair a damaged highline at Bernice. Officials said 2,300 volts of electricity hit him as he was working on a transformer box atop a 20-foot pole. He sustained a broken back and a broken arm. He did not wear a safety belt. He was said to have died almost instantly, although artificial respiration was administered at the scene and later at the Vinita hospital.
Some Seriously Injured
    In serious condition are:
   E.C. Davis, 63, of near White Oak. Head injury. Receiving treatment in Vinita hospital.
    Mrs. Jack Casey, 41, of Bernice, injuries not definitely known. Suffering from shock. Mercy hospital.
    Sandra Sue Jarvis, 6, route 1, Afton. Johnson hospital, Afton.
Presley A. Jenkins, 44, of 812 S. Gary, Tulsa. Lung complications. Now in Hillcrest hospital, Tulsa.
[remainder of article omitted]

 

From The Oklahoma, 5/3/1948

Donated by: Emily Jordan

06-23-2007