THE LATE DISASTER IN THE WEST INDIES

Kumara Times, Issue 1109, 20 April 1880, Page 4

THE LATE DISASTER IN THE WEST INDIES

The New York papers publish a telegram from St. Thomas, West Indies, giving particulars of some disastrous floods in the island of St. Kitts, Two hundred lives have been lost by the inundation, property to the extent of a quarter of a million has been destroyed, and the whole island devastated. The land sweeps up from the shore slowly at first, through a rich, fertile, and cultivated soil, and then mounts abruptly towards the central mass, the rugged peak whereof is known by the name of Mount Misery. The elevation of this summit isjnearly 4000 ft, and it overhangs the broken walls of an old crater, the last remnant of an inner cone that has been washed away. Ihe mountain Is clothed with pasture and woodland, and at its skirts in the rich valley of Basseterre is the arable portion of the island, which is mainly devoted [to sugar. The island itself, known as the “ Mother of the Antilles,” is twenty-three miles long, five mile broad, and covers an area of sixtyseven square miles. The floods occurred on Sunday, January Jlfch, The temperature had been unsually high for the time of the year; the winds were blowing from the S, at early morning ; toward noon they changed to the N.E., and the temperature fell suddenly. The streams on the mountain side rapidly became torrents, converging into a gulf at the •foot of Mount Misery. They rose from their narrow channels, and poured down upon the arable land in a resistless stream. The inhabitants were at once alive to their danger. There was a general stampede toward the coast ; the confusion was terrible ; blacks and whites, natives and English, all made for the nearest point of safety. The ■ torrent rolled on the town of Batseterre among the newlybuilt houses and public edifices, carrying with it roofs, trees, timbers, and branches of trees. Landslips added to the terrors of the scene. Sugar fields were levelled on the ground or torn up in masses, deep gulleys were washed in the roads, sugar houses and dwelling-places were borne away, and the waters rushed headlong to the sea with their freight of drowned cattle and struggling human beings. The scene was pitiful. The whole population of the island does not exceed 25,000, and of these 200 perished, and many of the rest were homeless. People huddled together on the roofs wild with terror. Tne authorities went immediately to work to relieve the distress, but the task was too great for them. Large quantities of provisions and all the sugar ready for shipment have been washed away, St. Kitts has known no sueh calamity since 1722, when a terrible hurricane nearly destroyed by fire, when all the business portion of the town and most of the churches and dwellings were reduced to ashes and five lives lost. A movement is being set on foot for the relief of the devastated island.