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Show : OMAHA AWAKENS ? TO STORM HORROR i : - i First Systematic Aid Is Extended to Sufferers Today Suffering Intensified By Heavy Fall of Snow Injured Are Being Given Best Attention MORE THAN 2,000 PEOPLE ARE HOMELESS Omen of Death in Awful Stillness Which Preceded Hiss of the Angry Wind Storm Originated in Cass County Governor Moore-head Moore-head Declares Ruined District Is His Idea of Hell Omaha. March 25. Groups of men aided and encouraged by .'Women and children labored incessantly today among the ruins of homes and other buildings m the section "f this city which was L practically annihilated by a tornado Sunday, in search of the living or dead that has been buried beneath the tns of debris added to I last night's death lisl of 152 were Bixteen more bodies recovered before be-fore 9 o 'clock from under the brick and iron beams of the bib wild I club hall. A thorough search of the wreckage of the Diamond moving mov-ing pietnn theater failed to reveal am more bodies and it i the opinion of the searchers that all who were trapped in the building I by the panic that ensued immediately upon the rush of the terrific j "wind have been found Sixteen bodies already have been removed I rom the ruins or t his building Since bit night the total number of missing persons has materially ma-terially increased, Relatives of persons living within the area Btrick- ! en by the cyclone began to arrive in Omaha last night, and the influx in-flux of anxious ones continued late today. From many of them come reports of missing friends and relatives This it is believed will swell Omaha's death list t a larger degree than had been expected. i The heavy snow which hnj fallen i since midnight, and still is tailing. uiad rescue work particularly slow arid difficult. Onlv portions of the I ruins of some buildings in which per-1 per-1 sons are known to have been killed have been removed. As quickly as bodies arc found ibey are being rushed to morgues which have been established in various porta of the city affected by the tornado. Relatives are claiming most of the bodies, but some remain unidentified. None of these are being burierl, the coroner delaying interment until pos-fibility pos-fibility of identification becomes more f remote. Funerals and burials of the dl id bose families have claimed the bod-f bod-f 'les are being held today from all the churches and many home- Cemeteries Cemeter-ies are thronged with grieving friends 'and relative of victims Scenes Id hospitals and public build -Ingu which have been converted Into ' ikospitals beggar description Nurs have been on duty, many of them, since Sunday night Not only do th (have to administer io the iujuries of ! their patients, but give much of their rimo In consoling desperately anxious . (relatives of those who lie upon the ' cots In the many ward? Equally untiring are the phyaiciant 1 1 -who have volunteered their services In alleviating the suffering of victims vic-tims Patients Show Improvement. Today many of the patients began to show Huch marked improvement that they have been dismissed from the hospitals Such a process of elimination elimina-tion Is expected to give both physl-i physl-i clans and nurses a few hours of rest I tonight and by tomorrow hospital of-t of-t flclals expect to haw an organization H ' that can work In relays Storm Hiifferers are being fed in j churches and lodge halls The city e furnishing food for them and will continue to do so until some semblance sem-blance of order Is restored within the stricken districts. Martial law still Is being strictly I enforced throughout the storm an a Upon the soldiers rest 'he responsibil-1 responsibil-1 Ity for prevention of looting and ' fires. The city health department is making every effort to place the district dis-trict In a sanitary condition as rapidly rapid-ly as pOBSlble Garbage wagons and trash carts were the only vehicles admitted ad-mitted within the patrolled section today. to-day. The water supply remains unimpaired unimpair-ed and the City health officers are finding it adequate aid In eradicating lnsanitation. Few people remain in that section of the city to the north which was especially bard hit by the storm Houses are in such condition thai those that remain standing as to preclude pre-clude the possibility of habitation IN -ery dray, wagon and moving van In the city was pressed Into service today by order of the city, aa well as by Individuals In order to move the I household goods from houses which ! partly had been demolished. Police look charge of the receipt ) and delivery of messages concerning Injured people today Inability of the, j messenger boys to deliver telegrams and failure to find a large number , of people addressed, made It impera-I impera-I tive to find a system, and a large I number of policemen were pressed ' Into service. Omaha. March 26 Shivering from cold, scores of men. women and children chil-dren struggled this morning In the snow to rescue the dead or Injured I bodies of friends and relatives who I lay buried beneath the wreckage of homes and buildings crumbled In Sunday's tornado, which killed more j than 150 persons in Omaha alone. The snowstorm which seriously hampered rescue work began shortly 1 after tnldntghi and is continuing with gathering force. More than ihrcc ; Inches of snow covered the debris this morning in the devastated district. The privations of the sufferers were increased greatly by the heavy snowstorm snow-storm which is following so closely In the wake of the tornado Women tug-. tug-. cing at heavy beams, hoping against hope to find the living bodies of dear ones men gruffly cheering their sorrowful sor-rowful mates. sniveling children wrapped about with shawls and blankets, blan-kets, were among the sights which, with sunrise this morning, greeted the federal soldiers as they patrolled the afflicted district aiding the rescue res-cue work and protecting the destroyed and unoccupied homes from looters. Relief Fund Reaches $50,000 Later city officials gathered within the lines drawn about the district by : the soldiers and began distributing clothing and other necessities nmonc ; the sufferers. More than $5(i,('i0ft ni ! ready has been subscribed for their relief, $26,000 by the city commissioners commission-ers nnd equal amounts by citizens. The injured at hospitals arc reeeiv-I reeeiv-I Ing the best attention Physicians of , Omaha and Council Bluffs have volunteered vol-unteered their services Trained nurses have followed the example of physicians Those patients who have I shown Improvement today will be 'moved from th( temporary hospitals to places provided by city officials Most of them are homeless Man I-atients whose conditions are consld ered more or less critical have not been told of their loss of property The latest reports ihls morning give the number of Injured at 820, while the known death list has now passed 202. The snowstorm which, according to reports, is falling from Colorado to Central Iowa has seriously Interfered with that slender thread of telegraph Ic communication which yesterday afternoon af-ternoon was established out of Omn ha. Practically no information has been obtainable this morning from the devastated sections of Nebraska and Iowa. Governor Morehc-ad stated this morning that he would hasten action before the state legislature to secure sufficient funds lor the immediate care of storm victims. People Had Warning. I Not entirely without warning! did the tornado strike Omaha. The da had been one of fitful sunshine and winds Before the rush of the storm the sun sank behind dark clouds and a death foretelling stillness of atmosphere atmos-phere settled over the city Darl nnd darker grew the afternoon, People Peo-ple In their curiosity mingled fear of an approaching storm, wenl to their front porches to observe the sky. W omen garbed in Easter glory, hastened has-tened homeward. People instinctive ly sought refuge indoor. Then out of the settling darkness and, as though born of the stillness, came the rush of wind A roar, a furious cry of the death w ind and scores of lives were snuffed out almost ou the moment while hundreds hun-dreds of Injured were left writhing In the narrow path of the storm From somewhere in Cass county the tornado developed, rushing ou- ward toward the northeast, wiping out the town oT Yutan and then hurtling through Waterloo and Ralston, leaving leav-ing death, agony, misery and poverty along its course. Gretna and Union and Millard felt the grasp of the oy-clone, oy-clone, but the greatest disaster was wrought in the path of the wind as It entered Omaha at Center street. Then on Into Iowa it swept, laying Its hand of death upon every town and hamlet within Its course. Fires started in Omaha by the score, and for a while It seemed as though the residence portion of the city would be destroyed destroy-ed by the flames Rut a terrific downpour down-pour of roln followed in the wake '.f the tornado, flooding buildings and debris until fire could make no headway. head-way. The property loss this morning could not be estimated with any certainty, cer-tainty, tllbugh it will run high nto the millions in Omaha alone. Few of the homes destroyed were covered by tornado insurance and in practically practical-ly every Instance property was a total loss. All Omaha Aids Sufferers. Today all Omaha rallied to the as sistance of the tornado victims. The hospitals in the city were filled. Churches, fraternal orders and public Institutions opened their doors and cltv officials for the latter are busy with relief work. Hundreds of citizens citi-zens offered their homes and money Governor "orehend notified Mayor Dahlman last night that he would send a special message to the state U-kIs-laiure asking an appropriation of suf ficlent funds to care for the homeless throughout the state. Public subscriptions subscrip-tions are being taken at various newspaper offices. Governor Morehead yesterday made a tour of Inspection of the damaged district. "This is mv idea of hell." he exclaimed ex-claimed suddenly "It is horrible and It has presented a most complex situation. sit-uation. The loss of life and damage to property Is the greatest concelvablo blow not ouly to Omaha, but to tho entire state of Nebraska I will call uiKjn the state of Nebraska to render ever) assistance and 1 am sure the state will respond. "My horror and grief simply are beyond be-yond my power of expression." |