TWENTY DEATHS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 231, 30 September 1929, Page 7

TWENTY DEATHS.

TOLL OF HURRICANE. Bahamas Swept By Tropical Tornado. MUCH DAMAGE CAUSED. (Australian Press Assn. —United Service.) NEW YORK, September 29. Dispatches from Miami, Florida, state that Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, was swept by a tropical hurricane which raged for two days. Considerable damage was caused. Twenty deaths are reported from Nassau. The steamer Princess Montagu is reported to have been wrecked near Nassau. Some of her crew of 23 were rescued by means of a life-line. Miami and its vicinity was struck by a squall with a velocity of 58 miles. The electric light and power lines were damaged. Last night the hurricane was moving across the island-studded southern extremity of Florida. It was predicted that it might continue westward into the Gulf of Mexico. Driving gales swept the lower eastern coast of the peninsula and wrecked much property. Several people were injured. At Miami apprehension is felt for the towns to the south. Tumultuous seas have hidden the fate of many vessels, two of which, Isle of Juno and Bahamaian, are large craft. They are known to have been in the path of the hurricane. Dozens of small craft were broken to pieces at Nassau. There is still no communication with the Bahamas. The Colonial Government is taking steps to ascertain the results of what is described as the worst disaster of the kind in the history of Nassau. Heavy Loss of Life. The latest reports from Nassau state that heavy loss of life has occurred and that enormous damage has been done. The hurricane is intense in the far north, at Miami and on the western and lower eastern coasts of the Florida Peninsula. Several persons were injured at Miami and Miami Beach. Towns to the south are isolated and it is feared that the storm there was very severe. Relief has been sent there from Miami. The cyclone swept in from the sea at Fort Lauderdale and wrecked 20 buildings. Several persons were injured. Havana escaped the hurricane, but suffered considerable damage from high seas.