WAKE OF STORM.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 224, 21 September 1928, Page 7

WAKE OF STORM.

DISEASE EPIDEMIC.

FLORIDA SUFFERING.

Dead Numbered At 800; 1500

Missing.

TYPHOID RAGING.

(Australian and N.Z. Press Association.)

(Received 10 a.m.)

WASHINGTON, September 20.

Estimates placing the total Florida dead at 800 and 1500 persons missing and with reports of rioting by negroes indicate the vast problem facing the relief workers.

A grave condition exists at Pahokee, where an epidemic of typhoid is already paining ground. The Red Cross, in their •-rt'ort to check the spread of disease, nre continuing to resort to wholesale burials of the unidentified dead.

An eyewitness declared that Pahokee Mas affected by the storm worse than anywhere else when the tornado raced across Lake Okeechobee and swept the •village and surrounding country. He estimated that nearly every building ■was demolished and dead bodies were discovered floating on the lakes and in the swamps nearby.

Serum and chlorine are being rushed i<» all areas. Governor Martin, of Florida, has advised that aid should be hurried by boat owing to the uncertain condition of the railways. The coastal railway has established a partial service, having abandoned the regular schedules mid put all trains at the disposal of the lclief work.

It ia reported that the highways leading to Palm Beach are now partially in use, over which automobiles and wagons nre being employed to bring aid. Animal life throught the stricken State is seriously affected. Tropical birds have been killed by'.the thousands.

The storm's toll along the North AtInntic coast now totals four dead in the New York metropolitan district. Reports of marine collisions and wrecks continue to come to hand, none of which, however, are regarded as serious. Advance warnings of the storm enabled the shipping interests to anchor their boats in sheltered places in order to outride the storm.

An earlier message stated that the hurricane had apparently spent its fury after inflicting minor damage on the coastline near New York. Heavy rains, winds which reached a velocity of 75 miles an hour, and mountainous fteas, dislocated shipping and the aviation services. Many small vessels were driven iibhore.

In the city of New York considerable damage was done to trees and windows and motor traffic was much impeded.

In Florida the lake towns were almost demolished, particularly in the Okeechobee region. There the waters swept in the wake of the wind and drowned hundreds of people. The suffering in that area is intense, and an epidemic of pneumonia is threatened. Rescue parties who have toiled through the debris report that more than 170 persons were killed. The property losses at Palm Beach and in the surrounding country are estimated at , £6,000,000. It is reported that 15,000 people are homeless in that county. National Guardsmen and civilians are recovering the bodies and are burying many nh-1 identified negroes where they are found, i Refugees report that the conditions are horrible beyond description. Many families were found living in two or three feet of water, their only food being peanuts. They were living huddled among the dead. ' The flat, swampy nature of the country, which is interwoven with canals, makes the work of rescue most difficult. Citizens are contributing to Red Cross and other relief organisations. Many districts are without any means of communication with the outside world. The authorities in all parts of the stricken area are reporting with difficulty.