A FLOOD DISASTER

Hokitika Guardian, 1 June 1920, Page 1

A FLOOD DISASTER

MANY FATALITIES,

,By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.)

[LONDON TIMES BEKVICB —COi’YBIOHTJ

LONDON, May 30

As a result of heavy rain, the canal hank at Louth, Lincolnshire, burst and the town was flooded. Numbers ot fatalitcs are reported, with seventy bodies so far recovered .

11 ORE PARTICULARS. LONDON, May 30.

The Louth disaster was duo to a waterspout causing tlie river Lud running through the centre of the town, to burst its banks. The flood largely destroyed the residential quarters. Many saved themselves by mounting the roofs or trees, from which they were rescued. The flood quickly subsided. The number of fatalities are unknown.

DEATH ROLL TOTALS 50. LONDON, May 31

Louth is a pleasant Lincolnshire town, lying at the foot of fulls on the edge of a flat marshy plain. The cloudburst occurred on the . lulls a- few miles distant. Most of th e townspeople were driven indoors by the rain. Many were at tea. There ,wis no warning of the disaster, as the rainfall locally was nbt excessive. Tha flood waters burst in the doors and windows of the houses and many victims were trapped on tho ground fibers. One woman escaped by climbing tip the chimney. Three children were having tea with heir mother. They mounted higher and higher to avoid the rising water, until they were compelled to cling to the curtain pole. Then they either dropped from exhaustion or the pole collapsed. All the children were drowned. - The chief police officer attended lie telephone continuously for three hours in four feet, of water.. 'Hie flood waters at Louth swept away bridges, houses and walls in a few minutes. The estimated death roll is fifty. Parties are now searching the 'Lbvis. Only one survivor was found among the occupants of a terrace of twelve houses destroyed. The fatalities include four firemen, swept away with the fire engine.

QUARTER OF A MILLION DAMAGE (Received this day at 10.35 a.m.) LONDON, May 31. The damage at Louth is estimated at ~ quarter of a million. Over seven •hundred persons are homeless. The river rose ten feet- in forty minutes, swept through the town at forty miles an hour. About one thousand houses arc damaged.