GREAT FLOODS IN SPAIN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 43, 14 November 1907, Page 8

GREAT FLOODS IN SPAIN.

A HUNDRED PERSONS DROWNED IN ■. ■ ■ MALAGA. . . A telegram from Madrid, under date Scjh tembor Sio, stated that at least 150 persons have been , drowned and many thousands aro homeless in the district around Malaga in consequence of. Hoods, following an unusually heavy storm. ..''"' Torrential rains caused the Guadalmedina River to'overflow its banks at one o'clock'this morning,. and many houses located in .the valley were swept' away before the sleeping inmates could bo warned of their di-.nger. ' . The raiiis continued to-day without intermission, arid additional floods are King Alfonso has announced his intention of going to Malaga to superintend the relief work, and the Minister of Public Works left to-night for tho devastated district. . After an exceptionally dry summer, the storm broko over Malaga yesterday without warning. Rain fell steadily. throughout the day and last night, and when tho'riyor.suddenly overflowed its banks, the city was plunged into an indescribable panic. Tin? cathedral bells wore rung, shots wore fired, and night watchmen ran through the residential quarter blowing whistles to rouse the inhabitants. The town was. in total darkness, as the electric light and gas works were flooded, while tho telegraph and telephone iines wera destroyed, and communication with tho outsido w'nrld interrupted/ The streets in, the: lower quarter of the town were soon flooded, and many residents had narrow escapes. Tho four bridges which-connect the. city with Trinidad and other suburbs on tho west bank were'swept away by the torrent. The Callo liarrios, the principal street, is partiallyinundated, whilo the business 'houses' and shops in the old town are for the most part' under water. Many houses collapsed this morning! while others have been so weakened by the flood that they aro uninhabitable. Great destitution exists among tho inhabitants. Business in tho port is absolutely paralysed. In the villages adjoining Malaga the local' authorities sent out n general alarm, and their promptness doubtless saved many lives As in Malaga, the electric lifiht and gas worn extinguished, and many of those drowned could not be reached in tho darkness.

ll'escno. parties heard many flood' victims calling for assistance, but were unable to reacli them before their cottages were swept

away. _ ■ . ■ Terrible havoc was wrought at Veloß, near Malaga, whore sixteen persons were drowned or killed by falling timbers. Tho village church and nearly all the shops were destroyed. Thirty-two bodies have been recovered at Colmenar, and three at Riopordo! Altogether, five churches and twelve public buildings have been destroyed in the district of Malaga. In some places the streets lie under six feet of water..

Tho peasants in Andalusia likewise suffered severely from the torrential rains yesterday, and even Madrid experienced au unprecedented rainfall. . ■ ■ ■