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Saturday, May 31, 1997

Merchants extending help to tornado victims

By TERRI LANGFORD / Associated Press Writer

GEORGETOWN, Texas (AP) - As merchants are rushing to aid the victims of the Jarrell tornado, Gov. George W. Bush formally asked President Clinton to join the effort.

Bush asked Friday that Williamson and Bell counties in Central Texas be declared a presidential disaster area, which would provide federal money for recovery. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, added a letter to President Clinton in support of Bush's request.

On Saturday, Bush is expected to attend funeral services for three families, including 10 people, who died in the Jarrell tornado.

Jim Wilson is helping with the arrangements. Words nearly failed him when he spoke of how thoroughly devastated as was Jarrell, a town of about 400 residents that lost about 7 percent of its population to the Tuesday storm.

"Here, I want to show you something," he said Friday, motioning to a room to the rear of Gabriels Funeral Chapel in Georgetown, just south of Jarrell.

With the flick of a switch, Wilson lets the room speak for him. Inside stand 20 caskets, still in their protective wrapping.

"They're devastated," Wilson says of the endless stream of survivors to the mortuary. "I don't know how they're making it."

Beginning Saturday, the mortuary will begin the first of what will be several funerals for at least 20 of the 27 people who died when the tornado ripped through the town, about 15 miles north of Georgetown. One person died of a heart attack during the storm in Cedar Park, about 12 miles southwest of the Williamson County seat.

Tuesday's twister swept through Jarrell, spinning winds of up to 300 mph, consuming some 50 houses in five-mile-wide, half-mile-long path.

Wilson shrugs his shoulders at the attention focused on Gabriels' offer to bury the victims without charge.

"It doesn't make sense to me to profit off people's misery," said Wilson, the mortuary's general manager.

Wilson cites many gestures of goodwill from other merchants and residents in and near Georgetown. He shows a room filled with eight flower arrangements for the first victims to be buried. He tells how florists here and across the state have called with offers of flowers and monetary donations to help with funeral costs.

Insurance industry estimates of damage in Williamson and parts of nearby Travis County are expected to reach between $20 million and $30 million, said Jerry Johns, president of the Southwestern Insurance Information Service.

The horrific images have touched even those barely old enough to speak.

Tiny children, their hands sweaty from clutching pennies, have made their way to the Williamson County Courthouse in Georgetown. There, Kathryn Adamek and Lissa Sauls of the tax collectors' office collect their donations.

"It just really touches my heart to see that," said Ms. Adamek.

Her co-worker smiles in agreement. "It's great to see everybody come together," said Ms. Sauls.

Outside their office and down the hall in the courthouse rotunda stand two large tables overflowing with donations of canned goods and household items.

"We were just sorry to hear about the families," Ms. Adamek said. "That tornado was just devastating. It touched everybody."

On Friday, emergency relief organizations began moving mobile homes into Jarrell to house those left homeless by the tornado.

Also Friday, the Texas Department of Insurance set up a consumer help line to operate through the weekend, answering questions and providing help to policyholders damaged in Tuesday's Central Texas storm. The help line number is 1-800-252-3439. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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