MISSISSIPPI FLOODS

Hokitika Guardian, 3 May 1927, Page 2

MISSISSIPPI FLOODS

[Australia & N.Z. Cable Association.] NEW ORLEANS DAMAGE. NEW YORK, May 2. The flood situation at New Orleans is generally believed to be more senous w than is commonly understood, due to jp the tendency to minimise the city’s ( . t ilanoer lor the purpose of sparing the ;| , feeling of the inhabitants who resent iho suggestion tlisit tlio ealamin is i i ponding! Nevertheless actual anxiety cannot he over-stated. I lie facts are (1( the levees are practically banktull. despite blasting, which apparently re- t lieved the water by only one-tenth ot a loot. Mcauw bile there Is a three foot t Hood crest at present between 150 and j •Jttt) miles north of New Orleans, which is estimated to take about ten days to j reach the city, and unless the water lowers the necessary three feet to ah- , sorb this before it arrives, the answer , 'o obvious, namely, that New Orleans, one of the greatest cities of the l nited States, will he flooded, which would ho ; j ii overwhelming calamity. This is at '. present the situation as nearly as nny- , one call estimate. It does not neccs■j sarily mean that New Orleans is doomed to he flooded. because artificial , ' I, leaks IIIIIV yet actuate to avert the s danger, hut it is at present premature B to declare the city saved. Tlie stage e of the water is being watched "'th o greatest anxiety day by day. MeanU while, while there are new breaks on 0 the west bank of the Mississippi, near Arkansas. Louisiana border, the devastation there is expected to he at 0 equal to. or if it does not exceed ■- that in the Mississippi region. Is FT.OOT) report. d d FATE OF NEW ORLEANS. "e NEW YORK. May •_>. s. Tlie lives of hundreds of people who disregarded the flood warnings arc now endangered in six parishes of Louisi-

ana. The Levee broke at lour points on Sunday opposite to Matcher.. Four persons were drowned when a row-boat overturned in overflow witters north of Vicksburg. The crest of the flood moves slowly, hut with terrible precision. Reports to-night indicated that the Vicksburg region is now feeling its full iotee. The waters are rushing through the levees there, and are spreading down the Za/.00 Valley. While the rescue work is now well organised, many refugees are still ho-

vering on the levee crowns ill many districts, or on the tops of houses. Some of them may not he able to hold out against the hunger and exposure before relief reaches them. The water is penetrating so far inland that it has reached the distant forest districts. The whole of some wooded areas are standing under

twenty feet of water. The Mississippi Valley, however, lias for the greater part been deforested. Mr Hoover will arrive at Washington to-morrw to consult with President Coolidge regarding further flood relief.

Meanwhile the waters have swept over many more thousands of acres ot new territory, and have made thousands more persons homeless. The artificial break in Poydras Levee continues to widen under the steady pressure of the rising waters, but the engineers says that there can be no relief for the City of New Orleans until the crevasse is much larger than it is at present. They point out. however, that the natural breaks in the levees in Arkansas and Louisiana. far above New Orleans, will do more to save the city from inundation than any artificial opening below the city. The levees all through the Baton Rouge region are undergoing a terrific strain as the water continues to rise.