FLINT TORNADO KILLS 113.

SIX ROARING TWISTERS HIT MICHIGAN AND OHIO; STATE'S 'WORST' DISASTER.

FEAR THAT DEATH TOLL MAY STILL GO HIGHER; WILLIAMS ASKS IKE TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.

Flint, Mich. (AP) -- Six roaring tornadoes, their blackclouded funnels dealing multi-milion dollar destruction, ripped furiously through parts of Michigan and Ohio last night, killing 139 and injuring 750.
The most deadly of the shrieking windstorms flung full force against Flint, a heavily industrialized city of 163,000 about 70 miles north of Detroit. In Flint alone at least 113 persons were killed.
Forty houses in one Flint street were flattened like pancakes. Many mangled bodies were found today in the wreckage of homes.
The tornadoes shot the nations spring twister toll to 358 dead. Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma have been hit hard recently.
The new tornado struck Michigan while the state was still cleaning up the May 21 twister that whirled through the outskirts of Port Huron, Mich., and jumped the St. Clair River and tore through Sarnia, Ont.
The first tornado lashed Erie, Mich., just over the Michigan-Ohio line from Toledo, O., at 5:25 p.m. (CST). At 7:10 p.m. a twister hedge-hopped through Washtenaw County, 35 miles to the north and swept into Milford, Oakland County, 15 miles to the northeast. Tawas City, midway up th eeastern coast of Michigan on Lake Huron, was hit at 7:25 p.m. and Flint at 7:45 p.m.
The tornado area extended from Tawas City down across the Ohio-Michigan border to Bowling Green -- a path of 350 miles.

Ten persons died in the twister that struck the Cygnet, O., area. Eight died in the Cleveland area; and one each at Elyria and Ceylon.
Michigan fatalities, in addition to those at Flint, included four dead at Erie; four dead at Tawas City; one at Ann Arbor; and one in Brown City, near Lapeer.
Flint hospitals were filled with the injured -- many crowded into corridors still stunned by the swift destruction that hit their homes.
National Guard troops, state police and police officers from numerous Michigan cities converted on the Flint area to aid in the rescue work. Gov. G. Mennen Williams took personal command but did not declare a state of martial law.
The Flint tornado killed many in homes on Coldwater Road and Kurtz Street, before it hedge-hopped eastward through Michigan's "thumb" toward Lake Huron.

It was so powerful it tossed huge trailer trucks off highways and smashed brick houses as though they were matchboxes. One eyewitness said:
"It sounded like the rumbling of a train."
State officials said the Flint disaster probably was the greatest in Michigan's history.
DONALD S. LEONARD, Detroit police commissioner, said the twister damage was worse than that he saw in London during the "blitz."
Gov. Williams asked President Eisenhower to declare the Flint area, as well as other Michigan communities "disaster" areas.
The American Red Cross, in Washington, allocated $100,000 for relief.
Flint was a sorrowful town this morning. Relatives trooped through the National Guard armory which had been converted into a temporary morgue looking for wives, children and parents.
Flint city officials feared the death toll would go much higher.

Nurses and doctors and ambulances came from cities across the lower portion of Michigan. When hospitals ran out of bed space, the injured were placed on floors of the corridors.
Tragedy struck in many forms in the wake of the twisters.
ARNOLD ANSCHUETZ, a Highland Park, Mich. fireman, his wife and two sons were vacationing near Tawas. The twister claimed all four lives.
At Erie, Mich., a 33-year-old mother died protecting her four-year-old son from the debris laden tornado winds.
MRS. VERGELINE RUSH of Dearborn Township lay on top of her son, DENNIS, as the tornado swept down a highway near Erie, dragging a huge, semi-trailer with it.
She was crushed to death by the tumbling trailer. DENNIS went to Monroe Hospital with a fractured skull.
The Erie twister turned over heavy trucks on US-24 north of the Michigan-Ohio border. Two little girls, CAROL ANN, 6, and JUDITH WINKLER, 2, were found dead in a field 100 feet from their home.

The twin tornadoes which struck Northern Ohio struck hardest at Cygnet, O., in Wood County. Eight persons died in the town, located near Bowling Green. The twister there also destroyed homes and buildings and injured scores of residents.
Cleveland suffered property damage estimated at $3 million. One resident reported picking up hail stones as big as oranges in New Baltimore, O. The twister knocked cars and truck, alike, off roads, and left trees looking as if a major battle had been fought in the area.

TOLL OF THE TORNADOES
By The Associated Press.
Here is a summary of the death count and property damage inflicted Monday by a series of tornadoes which swept across Southern Michigan and Northern Ohio.
Flint, Mich. -- 133 known dead with property damage estimated at $10 million. The Flint tornado struck near the city limits wiping out a 40-row residential housing area.
Erie, Mich. -- Four dead. Property damage confined mostly to cars and trucks on highways. The twister dodged Erie, proper, by a mile, spending its force on rural areas.
Tawas City, Mich. -- Four dead (all members of one family on a vacation in Tawas City, a resort area). Property damage confined to a few buildings.
Ann Arbor, Mich. -- One person reported dead. Tornado missed Ann Arbor proper, inflicting most of its force on nearby Milford, and Pleasant Lake. Milford suffered property damage estimated at $500,000.
Brown City, Mich. -- One dead. Little damage reported in this rural Lapeer County town.
Cleveland -- Eight dead. Tornado cut a ten mile path inflicting property damage estimated at $3 million.
Elyria, O. -- One dead. Houses and several buildings destroyed by tornado.
Ceylon, O. -- One dead.
Wood County (including Cygnet, O.) -- Eight dead. Heavy damage to homes and buildings.

Daily Globe Ironwood Michigan 1953-06-09

List of Tornado Victims -- June 8, 1953
From the Flint Public Library Site
www.flint.lib.mi.us
MRS. VIRGINIA RUTH BAIRD, age 25.
JAMES H. BALLENTINE, age 54.
MRS. ROSE AGNES BEAN, age 24.
SHARON KATHERINE BERDAN, age 10.
WESLEY J. BLIGHT, age 58.
ALECICEA CARMON BOLIN, age 8.
TERRY LEE BOLIN, age 4.
MRS. VERNA NANCY BONNEVILLE, age 67.
DANIEL ROY BOONE, age 6 months.
JESSIE IRENE BOONE, age 2.
CARL LEVERN BRINK, age 23.
CARL T. BROOKS, age 47.
LINDA JOY BURGESS, age 5.
DAVID ALLEN CLIFFORD, age 3.
MRS. JEAN COONS, age 24.
HARRY EDWIN COOPER, age 67.
CHERLYN ELAINE CRAMER, age 4.
MRS. DOROTHY MAY CRAMER, age 25.
DALE ANTHONY CRAWFORD, age 6 months.
HENRY C. DEESE, age 23.
WILLIAM H. DeFORIEST, age 73.
MRS. MARJORIE DENEEN, age 31.
JAMES PATRICK DIPZINSKI, age 18.
JEROME W. DUNNING, age 62.
WALTER ECKERT, age 52.
PATRICIA FENDER, age 17.
WILLIAM DEAN FRANCE, age 6.
CELIA GATICA, age 20.
JOHN ROBERT GATICA, age 2.
MARYANNE GATICA, age 3.
SALLY ANN GATICA, age 4.
SHERLEY MAY GAUTHIER, age 12.
JUDITH ANNE GENSEL, age 6.
KATHLEEN LOUISE GENSEL, age 4.
KENNETH ROBERT GENSEL, age 5 months.
THOMAS RICHARD GENSEL, age 2.
MRS. VENESSA O. GENSEL, age 26.
RAYFORD PAUL GINTER, age 14.
ANDREW ALEXANDER GOODHAND, age 39.
FREDERICK WALTER GOODHAND, age 15.
WALTER JUNIOR GOSS, age 11.
LOVELL J. HAMLIN, age 48.
JOAN HAMMOND, age 19.
JOSEPH EARL HAMMOND, age 10 months, 17 days.
LORRAINE CAROL HARGER, age 10 months.
MRS. SHIRLEY JEAN HARGER, age 22.
CLYDE D. HARMON, age 62.
MRS. JESSIE VIVIAN HARVEY, age 49.
MRS. ALICE HEDGER, age 40.
CHARLOTTE HEDGER, age 3.
KATHERINE ALICE HEDGER, age 5.
CARMEN HERNANDEZ, age 9.
MRS. KATHRYN I. HILL, age 23.
MRS. JENNIE E. HIPKINS, age 69.
MRS. ELSIE M. HOLDORPH, age 35.
PHYLLIS HOLDORPH, age 7.
MRS. FRANCES L. HUTSON, age 30.
MICHAEL ROY HUTSON, age 7.
PATRICIA D. HUTSON, age 8.
DIANA JIMMENEZ, age 7.
CAROL ANN JOHNSON, age 11.
MRS. NORA KATHLEEN KANE, age 60.
JOHN EDWARD KANE, age 29.
ANDREA JEAN KILGORE, age 18 months.
DALE WESLEY KILGORE, age 11.
DANNY ELMER KILGORE, age 5.
MRS. HELEN IRENE KILGORE, age 31.
DIANE CAROL KREH, age 2.
MRS. HELEN V. KROSKA, age 40.
MRS. FRANCES MANYCH, age 44.
DONALD MATHEWS, age 36.
ELLEN MARIE MILES, age 11.
ROY LEE MILES, JR., age 7.
ROY LEE MILES, SR., age 40.
MRS. FLORENCE A. MORSE, age 59.
GEORGE MORSE, age 62.
VERN ROY MORSE, age 25.
MRS. MYRTLE E. NIGHSWANDER, age 65.
MRS. MYRTLE OAKS, age 59.
BARBARA PARR, age 12.
ROBERT PARR, age 10.
ROBERT W. PARR, age 34.
CAROL LEE PENDERGRASS, age 5.
HARRY ALLISON PENDERGRASS, age 29.
CHERYL ANN PFEIFFER, age 4.
CHARLES JOHN PLATT, age 56.
MRS. LEONA POWELL, age 25.
CAROL QUINN, age 17.
DONNA QUINN, age 13.
JOSEPH L. QUINN, age 49.
MRS. LORETTA M. QUINN, age 44.
MRS. BERNICE RHODES, age 46.
BARBARA ROBINSON, age 4.
LORNE M. ROBINSON, age 39.
ANGUS ROSS, age 65.
THOMAS HILL ROSS, age 60.
PAUL SEKELSKY, age 38.
DIANE MARIE SHREVE, age 1.
WAYNE EDWARD SOMMERS, age 28.
GLEN EDWARD STOOPS, age 33.
CAROL ANN SUNDAY, age 16.
BARBARA, TUTTLE, age 20.
DIANE TUTTLE, age 2.
HERSCHEL C. TUTTLE, age 43.
MARJORIE TUTTLE, age 10.
MRS. MARTHA TUTTLE, age 42.
JEANNE W. VAUGHN, age 9.
MRS. MURIEL L. VAUGHN, age 29.
PATRICIA J. VAUGHN, age 8.
RONALD JOHN WALTERS, age 15.
DUDLEY E. WILLEY, age 80.
MRS. MARY AGNES WILLEY, age 69.
MRS. CLARA E. WORGES, age 57.
MRS. ALMA E. YAZANKO, age 25.
DOTTIE JO YAZANKO, age 5.
GARRY D. YAZANKO, age 2.
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!