STORM DISASTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 223, 20 September 1928, Page 7

STORM DISASTER.

FLORIDA DEATH ROLL.

Estimated Loss Of Life 250, Injured 1000.

HURRICANE STILL RAGING.

(Australian and N.Z. Press Association.)

NEW YORK, September 19,

The latest reports from Florida state that the hurricane caused about 250 deaths in that State and that 1000 people were injured. The damage to property is estimated at £5,000,000. Palm Beach and West Palm Beach were very badly damaged. Trees and houses were swept, crushed and splintered, in all directions. Practically no buildings of any sort remained undamaged. The most serious loss of life seems to have been at Lake Okeechobee, where floods and bursting dams added to the work of the wind. This section is completely inundated and little outside aid is available. The caretakers of many of the homes of wealthy residents report that the properties were ruined. The roofs and walls collapsed and exposed furniture and objects of art to the wind and the rain. In addition looters were able to search among the debris for treasures. There is a general demand for martial law to check the looting. The hurricane is still raging toward the north with little loss of intensity. The entire south-east is now cut off. Charleston, South Carolina, cannot be reached in any manner, and unless there is a decided change in the course of the storm immediately its path may be extended well to the north. The storm smashed its way through Georgia, leaving misery and destruction in its wake. The coastguard is prepared to aid shipping as far north as Boston. All ships are rushing to shelter. The majority of the dead in Florida are unidentified. At some centres difficulty is being experienced in burying all the bodies. A message from Washington says excitement was caused there by an unfounded wireless report to the effect that the hurricane would strike the capital. However, the officials of the National Meteorological Bureau predict that it will pass some distance to the south-east of Washington to-day. Warnings of a gale were issued yesterday for the east coast of the United States from Virginia to Atlantic City. It is expected that the cffects of the storm will be felt as far north as Boston. The meteorologist at the New Yojk Weather Bureau lias issued storm warnings. He predicts high winds and heavy rains. Eleven inches of rain fell at Savannah, Georgia, and there were heavy rains at Norfolk, Virginia, yesterday. The Governor of Florida, Mr. J. W. Martin, has appealed for immediate aid from the Department of War. He says the effects of the hurricane will probably prove to be more serious than those of the 1926 storm.

The Secretary of War, Mr. D. F. Davis, has ordered the Fourth ArmyCorps to render all possible aid.