FRENCH FLOODS

Hokitika Guardian, 7 March 1930, Page 6

FRENCH FLOODS

VAST AREA INUNDATED

[United Press Association-—By Electric

Telegraph—Copyr'ght.J

PARIS, March o

Ten thousand square miles of Souiiiern France have been Hooded. It is the worst catastrophe) ol the kind in French history.

Three rivers, the '.I arn, the Orb a;.d the TTcfault have broken their banks, but .the indications are that the Hoods have reached their maximum.

A survey of the damage reveals it as even greater than was offered. At present it can only be vaguely approximated. There are hundreds dead, as already cabled. The material loss is already stated to be many millions sterling. No fewer than fourteen departments have been wholly or partly devastated.

The Parliamentary representatives have hurriedly convened a conference. The Chamber of Deputies have decided to hold an immediate inquiry. Mean while the urgency of relief lias prompted the passing of a credit of a quarter of a million sterling. The destructive character o! the inundations has been sweeping and dramatic, All the telegraphic and telephonic communications were severed, and all the arterial roads were destroyed, while hundreds of factories and power stations and thousands of farms have been ruined. .Dwelling bouses collapsed and many bridges were swept away. An order for seventy coffins I,ins been received at Toulouse from the Prefect of Taro-em-gnronne. Aeroplanes are surveying the,devastated area, . ... . > ~ More buildings have collapsed in the Tarn Valley. Revnes, which was: almost totally, destroyed, reports fourteen deaths. A Hre brigade from Toulouse rescued 22 persons, who, for 48 hours, were precariously perched on roofs and trees. Sixty-four were rescued from Minlis, and seventeen from Strassino. Nearly all of tliejn had been immersed ii Die water for two days.

SCENES OF DESOLATION

PARIS, March G.

It; is now reported that at least 300 lives were lost iii the floods, including ,lo() at; Mdntauban alone, 12 at,.Keynes, and 3 each at Saint Antonian and Albius,! while scores of others- are .known to have been buried in the ruins of lire buildings or drowned. The scene, now that waters are receding ,is one of utter desolation 'and destruction along PA) miles of rich country, from 30 to 40 miles wide, embracing more than 100 important communities.

Troops are feeding and sheltering thousands of people. Women are weeping- and men are cursing the fate that has destroyed tlie'ir life’s work." The- 'rescue' . 'work' "is not" merely amatter of boats and rafts; 'it is as perilous as - life saving in rough seas, for the floods in many places are not placid lakes, but raging torrents. One rescuer was drowned after saving at' least 100 -people.

The 'Mayor :of MbiSsai'. where the dam hurst, said: “It was a terrible sight- when the! dam broke-, and whole rows of houses' were' tofu down-, and many poor-souls were trapped in bed and buried in the ruin's: Their dreadful cries were heard throughout the night, but we were helpless in the dark. 1 ”

TEN THOUSAND HOMELESS

LONDON,

March i6d

The “Daily Mail’s” Toulouse correspondent says: At least ten thousand are homeless as the result of the floods in the South of .France. The floods are subsiding gradually. Mantauban presents a scene of heartrending desolation in its lowlying streets, near the river, and there are other buildings' crumbling'- and crashing down almost every minute The damage to tlie factories in 'too Tarn Department alone is estimated at more than one million sterling. Two thousand people have been thrown out of work at Castres, and there is little prospect of fresh employment. Important woollen and leather f:> tories were destroyed in other distri. t.s. this damage totalling at least half a million sterling. ' FLOOD HAVOC CONTINUES. PARIS, March 0. Flood devastation continues throughout the South West. It is estimated seven hundred are dead. A family of seven were found dead beneath the ruins of a homo. A peasant seeing his house collapse whipped out a revolver and committed suicide before horrified spectators could prevent him.

A husband and wife were clinging to branches and when their strength failed they dropped into the flood. The population eulogise the'Bengalese'soldiers’ magnificent rescue work, some remaining 36 hours in the chilly waters.’ Two German youths arc credited with saving more than one hundred. A group of cavalrymen sot out to rescue screaming children who wore marooned on a. diminishing isihud. They met disaster, three horses and n. rider being drowned.