By Tom Kelly
Editor and Publisher

Disaster areas have been declared in five Louisiana parishes hit by a string of tornados which touched down two days before Thanksgiving. Affected areas are in Vernon, Catahoula, St. Tammany, Caldwell, and LaSalle, where the 2500-population town of Olla was most seriously hit.

One woman was killed, as many as 60 suffered some level of injury, with 12 who required treatment. Over 100 homes suffered damage, including several that were completely blown apart. Cars and other vehicles were damaged as large trees were snapped like match stems and fell across anything below.

Mrs. Audrey Hinton, 89, was killed when their home was crushed by the tornadic winds, which hit a little after 8 p.m. in the early evening of Tuesday, November 23. Her husband, Grady Hinton, 91, survived because he was in the kitchen getting his insulin, according to reports.

Three members of the LaSalle Parish High School football team were working out in the field house weight room when the storm hit. They were badly hurt and rescuers sent them for medical treatment in Alexandria.

The school is damaged, and temporary classes are being arranged in the nearby vacant Holloway building, which formerly housed a sewing plant.

On the scene on the morning of Wednesday, November 24, the sounds of power saws and heavy equipment could be heard in every direction, as area loggers joined National Guard, law enforcement, police and sheriff's department personnel joined in removing the broken trees and other debris from houses, vehicles, and power lines.

Rescue and emergency volunteers from the American Red Cross in Alexandria and the Salvation Army in Ruston were on the scene shortly after midnight on Tuesday, and established a headquarters in the community center in the old Olla business district a few blocks east of U.S. Highway 165 which is the main artery through the community today, about halfway between Alexandria and Monroe.

At the Red Cross center, victims of the storm sat at tables staffed by volunteers who took information for providing relief.

One man waiting his turn, Anthony Green, said he was at home with his family when "we heard the rain. I got up and opened the door," he said. The wind slammed the door back, hitting him on the head. "I just turned, grabbed my brother, and we hit the floor." The house was knocked down, and a tree fell on his car, crushing it, he said.

Leanna Murphy, CEO of the Louisiana Red Cross at Alexandria, said her agency was preparing to give family services, emergency financial aid, food and snacks, and mental health assistance.

Emergency shelter was provided at the Olla-Standard school. Most people found shelter with family or friends.

Debbie Williams, a Salvation Army executive from Ruston, said her agency was preparing to set up feeding facilities on Wednesday morning. They served Thanksgiving meals to several families whose homes were damaged.

Electric service remained out over a wide area.

Larry Cotton, an Olla resident preparing to cut fallen trees off the home of his late mother, Dezzie Cotton, recalled that Olla suffered a similar tornado in 1983, which did extensive damage in the community.

Mrs. Kristi Gilliam, waiting while workers cleared trees from her crushed mobile home residence, said she had left to pick up her children when the storm hit. "I guess God found a way to get me out of the house during the storm," she said.

The storm which hit Louisiana was part of a larger system which also damaged areas in East Texas, accompanied by heavy rains and thunderstorms over a wider area. Timber damage occurred in some areas, but the extent was not known. Wet conditions in the North Louisiana woods from heavy rains during the recent past have kept many loggers from their work for several weeks.

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