JARRELL, Texas, May 28 -- Gov. George W. Bush is urging the nation to pray for the tornado-ravaged town of Jarrell in central Texas where 27 people are dead and another 23 people missing. After flying over the area in a helicopter, Bush stopped by the disaster command post today, saying the devastation was 'mind boggling.
' Bush says, 'The best thing we can do is pray for these people.' Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Laureen Chernow says the unaccounted for people were not found at their homes or jobs. She says they may have been caught in the twister, or they may be staying with friends or relatives. The tornado that struck Jarrell cut a path a half-mile wide and about three miles long, destroying about 50 homes, or roughly 10 percent of the homes in the town of about 1,400 people about 35 miles north of Austin. Witness Gary Lohman, says, 'We watched it for 10 or 15 minutes. At first it was thin and narrow and we thought it was going to dissipate; then it came up from the ground as a huge mass.' A National Weather Service forecaster says the tornado may have been an F-5 twister, the most intense measured on the Fujita scale with winds of more than 216 mph. Chernow says a search continues in nearby Cedar Park for possible missing people in the remains of an Albertson's grocery store. She says special audio-video detection equipment is being used to search the rubble. Chernow says concerns were raised because four cars were found in the parking lot and the drivers could not located. ---
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