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Editor's note: Maylon Rice, 19, a sophomore journalism student at Henderson State University,
was at his Warren home when the tornado struck. His first-hand account of the
rescue effort was presented on request to the Gazette's Southeast Arkansas Bureau.
By MAYLON RICE
WARREN - I was out at my grandparents east of town when my mother called from the hospital to say a tornado had just hit town. She said she was fine, but that things could be serious.
I didn't heed her warning to stay away. I wanted to help my friends if I could.
The rain was extremely heavy as I drove toward town. I considered stopping, but I drove on. As I entered Warren, I drove across the flooded town branch. My car drowned out momentarily as I coasted into City Hall.
Inside, all the lights were out. There was an attempt to start a gasoline generator for emergency power.
I grabbed my camera and notepad and headed toward the area reportedly hit by the tornado. Before I got across Main Street, debris and trash blew around my car.
At the busy intersection of Highways 4 and 15, a crowd of folks was pushing a stalled truck out of the road. Trooper Dennis Hendrix, a friend, offered me a ride to the disaster area. Electric wires and sheets of tin were scattered everywhere. The rain was blowing into town in sheets.
Out of nowhere, an ambulance crew appeared. The crew asked for help and I volunteered.
We began making calls at 10 p.m. Help was needed at three different locations. At each place we saw extensive damage. The wild winds had downed sturdy structures. Everything appeared in ruins.
On one call, an elderly couple suffering from lung ailments asked for help. The woman seemed okay, but she asked about her dog that had been blown away by the twister.
Back at the hospital, the four doctors and nurses were sorting victims like cards in anticipation of more victims. Some of the older patients were transferred to the nursing home.
People in waiting rooms cried over the loss of loved ones. Hospital administrator Joe Carmichael called it a "nightmare."
During a second ambulance run, our crew encountered a 6 year-old boy with a badly cut foot. The youngster forgot his pain when placed in the ambulance. He was excited by the attention and the loud siren.
Back at the hospital again, the hallways were jammed with people searching for relatives. Nurses searched for spare rooms.
My mother, a nurse, took time out from her work to tell how the tornado barely missed the hospital. (It did hit a wing under construction).
By midnight, things slowed. Workers succeeded in clearing debris from streets and the Red Cross and Salvation Army began to bring in their relief teams.
*taken from Arkansas Gazette, Sunday, March 30, 1975, pgs. 1 and 23A
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