TORNADOES RIP THRU AREA; 
SIX KILLED
Published by THE LEAD BELT NEWS, Flat River, 
St. Francois Co. MO, Wed. June 25, 1969.

     Four persons in St. Francois and two in Washington County were killed as tornadoes tore through the counties Sunday evening.

     A line of violent winds extending through several counties were the cause of the storm. The Department of Civil Defense in Jefferson City has reports of several tornadoes.

     The first hit about 7 p.m. in the Old Mines area along Highway 21 in Washington County, where two people were killed. Dead are Roy Pratt, 45 and his eight year old son Francis. Approximately 17 other persons in that vicinity were injured and taken to the Washington County Memorial Hospital.

     The civil defense also reports two separate tornadoes swept through Doe Run about 7:45 that evening. Four persons were killed here, two local residents and two people in an auto. Dead are two brothers, Jacob Herbst, 70 and Herman Herbst, 67 of Doe Run and William Betterton, 41 and his wife Katheryn, 38 of Carbondale, Ill. Mr. Betterton was a music instructor at SIU.

     The Bettertons were killed southeast of Doe Run on 67 when their camper van was blown off the highway and slammed into a bluff. Betterton was found under the remains of the auto, his wife was not found until early Monday morning about 100 yards away.

     Many others received both serious and minor injuries and about 30 persons were taken to various hospitals in the area for treatment.

     Several homes were destroyed in the Doe Run area on Stono Mountain and many farmers lost barns in the storm.

     It is thought the two tornadoes collided south of Farmington and while one continued on through Ste. Genevieve and Perry Counties where it eventually disipated, the other came north to Farmington and raised to about a height of 300 ft. Farmington residents lost a great number of their beautiful trees, some damage was done to business places and the East Gate Trailer Ct., near Lees Shopping Center was hit. Several trailers were overturned and many others knocked off their foundation blocks. Clean-up is still going on in that area. Parts of Farmington were without electricity for some time.

     Residents in the Doe Run area and southeast St. Francois County were without electricity and phone services for several days. Emergency and telephone crewmen rushed to the disaster area and have been working 24 hours daily to restore service.

     The Civil Defense Department in Jefferson City gives much credit to Sheriff Ken Buckley and his department for taking the initiative to tie all emergency operations together, to get as much work done as soon as possible.