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P
alm
S
unday
T
ornadoes
| 50
th
A
nniversary
The Goshen News Saturday, April 11, 2015 |
31
contact with outside areas.
NIPSCO’s power supply
was limited and the com-
pany asked that schools be
closed and industries close
today to conserve the lim-
ited supply of electricity for
residential users.
Not new to him
Ken Atherholt and his
wife and child lived in trailer
25 and he said the storm ar-
rived with a “loud roar.” He
said he had been through
twisters before in Texas.
They arrived in this area
two years ago and he is em-
ployed at Concord Mobile
Homes. Their home was
badly damaged.
As is usual with twisters,
the storm raised havoc with
one area and missed an-
other nearby. Six trailers lo-
cated on the west end of the
Midway court, at the south
end of the lot, were not dam-
aged. However, all the trail-
ers on the south side were
destroyed, starting with the
one on the southwest cor-
ner.
Edward J. McCourt, who
lives in one of the six trail-
ers which escaped destruc-
tion by a matter of a few
feet, said he saw the storm
approaching and opened
the front windows and even
used a hammer to knock
out one or two windows.
Arthur Cornish and his
wife and two children left
the court when he realized
the severe weather was
in the areas. The storm
wrecked his mobile home
he had left five minutes
earlier. Cornish brought
his family to Goshen at the
home of his mother, Mrs.
Eva Cornish, 405 East
Wilden Avenue. Cornish
lost his father last year in a
fire at the Wilden Avenue
home. Cornish said “we’re
just thankful the Lord gave
us enough time to get out.”
Waitress escapes
Mrs. Ada Mast, waitress
at Miller’s Restaurant, had
just arrived home from
work and was getting ready
to go to church when the
storm hit. Her trailer was
overturned and thrown
against the trailer home
of Alex Koski. Mrs. Mast
found herself in a pile of de-
bris in the wrecked trailer
when the storm ended and
she walked out of the home
and drove to the First As-
sembly of God Church and
asked for help.
Mr. and Mrs. Koski heard
the twister approaching and
left their living room and
went to the bedroom. The
corner of Mrs. Mast’s trail-
er smashed into the living
room the Koskis had just
vacated and Mr. and Mrs.
Koski also escaped injury.
Their son, Dale, 21, is in
critical condition in Goshen
General Hospital after suf-
fering a stroke.
Mr. and Mrs. George
Phelps and their daughter,
Brenda Gail, lived in trailer
80 on the south side of the
court but were gone Sunday
to visit Mrs. Phelp’s brother
in Toledo. They found the
court in ruins when they
returned about 8 p.m. Their
pet squirrel monkey was
not found and apparently
was a victim of the twister.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Phelps
are employed at the I-XL
Furniture Company Inc.,
and they have lived at the
court the past six months.
They didn’t escape the
storm entirely, however,
as they met a twister while
en route home on the toll
road and stopped under an
overpass while the storm
passed.
One of the first
Bernard Miller, Elkhart,
was one of the first volun-
teers to reach the scene. He
had stopped along U.S. 33,
east of the trailer court, and
watched the storm pass.
He said the air was filled
with debris when the storm
ripped through the mobile
home court. Miller went
into the area and helped
out a number of injured
and found the body of a
14-month-old boy.
The Salvation Army of
Goshen had coffee at the
Midway Trailer Court for
distraught residents, au-
thorities and other volun-
teers by 8 p.m.
All types of heavy equip-
ment were moved into the
Midway Trailer Court and
at the Sunnyside Addition,
Dunlap, to move debris and
search for the dead and in-
jured.
All types of auxiliary
lighting were brought to
the area so the search could
continue into the night.
The Midway Trailer Court
was brightly illuminated as
heavy wreckers worked into
the night. Heavy bulldozers
were brought in to pull the
debris from the area of the
south side of the mobile
home court.
Emergency units, includ-
ing salvage trucks, wreck-
ers, auxiliary lighting ve-
hicles, came from a wide
surrounding area, includ-
ing Warsaw, Rome City,
Atwood, Cassopolis, Mich.,
etc.
State police troopers from
a number of surrounding
counties were sent to this
area. There were nurses
and doctors here from War-
saw along with civil defense
workers from a number of
surrounding communities.
Rescue
Continued from page 2
Goshen news file photo
Rescue
workers
comb through the debris
at an unidentified loca-
tion after a tornado ripped
through Elkhart County
on April 11, 1965.
