DESTRUCTIVE HURRICANE

Chronicle (Levin), 29 August 1949, Page 5

DESTRUCTIVE HURRICANE

■ (N.Z.P.A.-

-Reuter.

♦ Three Dead Anil Many Hurt ln Florida

Copyright j

Reeeived Sunday, 7 p.m. NEW YORK, August 27." Tkree persons are reported to have. Ipst their lives, ,58 to have" been injured and damag.e Estimated at least 6,000,000 dollars to have resulted from a hiirricane whieh roared through Florida last uight and today. The hurricane 's haphazardly . aimed punches tonight lost much of their viciousness and gusts now are not over 40 miles an hour. Behind it along FJorida 's ' ' gold coast," the hnrricane left a scene of wreckage and destruction. The crop loss- was tremendous. The entire citrus area is now carpeted with young fruit. Palm Beach and West Palm Beach were badly hit and national g'uardsmen were called out ditring the night to patrol the -towns wliere the windows of nearly all the business establishments were smashed despite steel and wooden barricades. In many cities the storm .left great paths strewn with unroofed houses, broken trees, smashed uiotor cars, streets littered with debris and disrupted communications. The winds at West Palm Beach reached 155 miles an hour. The entire coastal section of Florida 's fabulous vacation paradise between Miami and Palm Beach, is now taking the fu,ll force of the hurricane which came roaring in from the Atlantic. Thousands of resiclents are battened down in storm shelters. 1 As the first gusts roared in army lorries^were shuttling back and forth with blankets, stretchers and emergency supplies for the towns in the hurricane 's path. A train standing by at Fort Pierce to evacuate residents of the Everglades marshes if Lake .Okeechobee overflows as if did in the hurricane of 1928 when 1870 people were killed. The waterfront homes of millionaires and notables are taking a terrific beating.