Tornado Causes Heavy Damage in Diocese of Kentucky
Diocesan Press Service. April 15, 1974 [74104]
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Among the hardest hit by the April 3 tornado which struck parts of 14 states, leaving more than 300 dead and thousands homeless, was the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky. The tornado plowed an area more than 400 feet wide through 10 miles of Metropolitan Louisville.
The small community of Brandenburg, just southwest of Louisville, where the tornado struck before skipping into Louisville proper, was devastated and 30 residents were killed.
Bishop David B. Reed of Kentucky assessed the losses among Episcopalians at a special meeting of Louisville area Episcopal clergy on the Saturday following at Christ Church Cathedral.
Metropolitan area Episcopalians suffered two fatalities, eight injuries, 75 homes destroyed and about an equal number damaged.
Church properties were virtually unharmed except for the Bishop's Residence, not yet vacated by the Rt. Rev. C. Gresham Marmion, recently retired bishop emeritus, which was totally destroyed. Church volunteers moved the Marmions' household goods to a temporary house. Bishop and Mrs. Marmion were in Texas when the tornado struck.
One of three Federal Disaster Assistance Centers was set up at St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Louisville's suburban east end where most of the destruction occurred. Other parishes rendering aid were St. Mark's Church, where meals were served daily, and Grace Church which served as a food and clothing gathering point for Brandenburg, and which also operated an emergency day care center.
The storm damaged the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, the site of the Episcopal Church's General Convention last fall, with damages estimated at over $1 million. The coliseum section, where the House of Deputies met, and the east wing, where the Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Church was held, were extensively damaged. The tornado struck in the late afternoon, several hours before a large crowd was expected for a sports event.
The Diocese of Kentucky, through the "Bishop's Discretionary Fund -- Tornado Relief, " is receiving money to provide assistance to a few families who suffered total losses of their homes with no resources for starting over again.
The Episcopal Church at the national level, through the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, has responded to requests by sending emergency funds to the Dioceses of Alabama, Atlanta, Lexington and Northern Indiana. Assurance of assistance to other areas if needed has been given.
The Church World Service department of the National Council of Churches has responded with money, food, blankets, cots, and clothing. CWS has six resource persons in the field in the hardest hit areas.