STORM CATASTROPHE.

Hokitika Guardian, 21 September 1926, Page 1

STORM CATASTROPHE.

[by TELEGRAPH —PER TRESS ASSOCIATION.] ENORMOUS DAMAGE. , NEW YORK, Sept. 19. Reports from New York Times correspondents at various places along the East Coast of Florida show that the devastation by the hurricane flood, and hv a tidal wave, have caused a death roll estimated in the' vicinity of ono thousand, while tlio number of injured is placed at anything up to five thousand. Enact information may not be available for days, hut, from the eye witness’ accounts, the damage done and the probable loss of life may he even greater than now indicated. Several towns are under six feet of water. One city reports that 3,800 homes have been destroyed. Coastwise ships and vessels anchored in many places were lilted and driven 150 feet inland. The hurricane, it appears, came in two parts, the first blast travelling at 130 miles an hour. It cut a huge swathe, and it was succeeded by a deadly calm. Those not caught by a first wind then, gained a false sense of security, which was shattered by the second blast, travelling at equal speed, and taking everything before it from the waterside cottages the huge bank building. In thriving cities, structures weakened by the first blow collapsed, like houses of cards at the second shock. Morever the inhabitants of the devastated area only had an hour or two of warning from the first signal bulletin from the Meteorological Bureau at Washington, giving them little time to escape. The barometer dropped to 27.75 in., it being .Gsin. below the reading recorded at the time of the Galveston flood, which is the only disaster with which this ono can be compared. The hurricane came at 5.50 and 7.50 o’clock on Saturday morning, at an hour when the countryside was asleep, and could not benefit from the weather bureau warning. All those facts seem to indicate that the total loss of human life will he unusualy high, while of tlie vast extent of the property damage, there is little doubt. A strip of the Coast fifty miles long, from Pompne on the north to ALarr.i on the south was swept clean. This is America’s most notable winter resort area, which lias been built up with large estates-, hundreds of many-storey-ed hotels, and large cities, which within the last five years have carried out building programmes to an extent probably unequalled anywhere else in America. It is the district in which the great Florida land boom occurred. OVER 2000 INJURED. VANCOUVER, Sept. 30. A message from Jacksonville, Florida. late last night estimates the dead in .hurricane-swept Lower Florida at more than one thousand. The revised figures or the casualties in the Miami section alone show five hundred dead in Miami, two hundred and fifty in Hollywood, and fifty-four dead iu Hialeah. Both the latter places are suburbs of Miami. Other reports indicate the dead in 'Fort Lauderdale number ono hundred and those in Moorelhiven section ono hundred and forty. The total injured arp put down at more than two thousand. It is impossible to obtain an accurate cheek of the dead and injured, as the water is still twelve to fifteen feet deep in some sections of Moorehaven. MANY TOWNS WIPED OUT. NEW, YORK, iSept. 19. In the Florida storm, the town and cities of Miami, Miami Beach, Homestead, Little River, homo City, Hialeah, Miami Shores, Coral Gables, Ogus, Dalandale, Hollywood, Davie, Dania, Povt Lauderdale, Prospecto, Florano, Pompano (not Pompiio), Deerfield, Gelray. Lakeworth and Boynton arc among the cities and towns which have been completely destroyed, or which have suffered extensive damage. This damage is estimated at one hundred million dollars. The very life of all these communities is at a standstill. Thousands of people arc cowering in improvised shelters waiting for food ami aid from the Army Rescue trains, which now are leaving from the. inland Florida cities. Press correspondents, who have spent twenty-four hours in attempting to penetrate the devastated areas, report that the Coastguards, who normally are stationed in these parts are now patrolling the streets, and are giving such aid as they can under a system of improvised martial law. Governor Martin, of Florida, has declared martial law for the other destroyed communities, and troops and trains are now cn route to take command of the situation. As accounts continue to come in the pictures of the terror prevailing are particularly vivid.

Behind the great winds there came mountainous seas, that travelled far inland, hurling themselves into the city streets, and upon their receding carried with them wreckage and human beings. Heavy rains then fell, accompanied by, lightning and thunder. Those who could escape from the wreckage ran into the higher structures, where they could keep above the rising waters coming from what are described as cloud hursts; hut the tall buildings wore no protection. A twenty-storey modern sky-scraper in Miami/was completely wrecked. The urban communities, however, were not alone, as large sufferers in this area included some of the richest farming districts in America, particularly the holdings where the fruit is grown for the northern city markets, and these are now lying waste, many acres being literally covered by sand brought in by sea. A telegram from Vest l’alnr Beach, Florida, states that the deaths due to the hurricane in Miami and Miami Beach are estimated at two hundred and thirty, according to reports reaching that place to-day. Another report telegraphed to the Associated Press said that hundreds of lives had been lost, and tlie property damage amounts to millions of dollars. A report received at Tampa, Florida, to-day said that there were one hundred and forty dead at Clewiston and Moorehaven, and that the roads between the two towns arc littered with bodies, and that both towns are in ruins. The number of injured in the various districts throughout Florida affected by the hurricane axe estimated at thousands, while thousands more are homeless.

38,000 PEOPLE HOMELESS. WEST PA LAI BEACH (Florida) Sept. 19. Deaths approximating five hundred and property damage estimated at between twenty-five and one hundred and twenty-five million dollars, while more than thirty-eight thousand people are homeless, and many are in urgent need of food supplies is the toll of tlio hurricane which raged along the Lower Florida coast on Friday and Saturday. The Atiaini district and Fort Lauderdale bore the brunt of the storm. Water is flowing through the Miami streets and practically every business place is damaged. Drinking water is not available, and the electric light is out- of commission. In response to urgent appeals, doctors, nurses and supplies of water are being hurried to Aliami from outside points. Originating in the Bahama Islands the hurricane struck on Friday night, and for nine hours it raged over the Miami district, leaving destruction and desolation in its train. Miami Beach was swept by a 125mile an hour wind, and waves surged over the place. Here the greatest number of dead are believed to be. The present estimate is one hundred and fifty, while there are eighty more in Miami. Tlie undertakers are unable to handle so many dead. The scene in towns is almost beyond description. Huge skyscrapers anti business houses are shorn of windows and plate glass fronts, and thousands of dollars worth of merchandise is ruined. Tlie streets are cluttered for miles with debris, so-that they are impassible. Tangled wires are lying in every thoroughfare, with broken polos! uprooted trees, furniture, and demolished automobiles, all testifying to the fury of the storm. Communication with tlie outside world was severed early on Friday night when-the storm reached its peak. The shipping at Miami suffered greatly. Afore than two hundred and ftftv boats, coastwise steamers, and palatial yachts, have been damaged, and more than one hundred and fifty smaller craft in an exposed bay in front of the town were hurled out of the water, and crashed to Splinters on the shore in Hollywood (a town that Is' a product of the recent land development era). AYhole streets were demolished, and the buildings were wrecked, while tlie debris lies everywhere. Only a single structure in the town, a ATasonic temple remained standing. The police are unable to cope with the situation, so the military have taken temporary control.