TORNADO AND FLOODS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 206, 19 November 1927, Page 9

TORNADO AND FLOODS

DEATH AND DESTRUCTION IN AMERICA

VILLAGES AND TOWNS UNDER WATER

By Cable. —.Press Association — Copyright. Received 9.5 a.m. NEW YORK. Friday. WIND and rain storms took a toll of 13 lives throughout the United States, and caused enormous property damage. The tornado, which struck Washington, also hit Maryland and Virgina. The mid-West is in the grip of a cold wave.

HPHREE persons were killed in Chicago through accidents due to the slippery pavements The air mail from Chicago to the West was interrupted. Vermont is facing the danger of additional floods, and rain and snow have seriously interfered with the work of rehabilitation made necessary by the recent floods. Numerous viilages and small towns are under water. A message from Washington says that after the tornado struck the city, heavy rain added to the misery of the scene as evening fell, with a prediction of freezing weather. During the tornado, which lasted for 15 minutes, and blew at a velocity of 93 miles an hour, men and women knelt in the streets and prayed for the safety of those at home. Eight planes which were in the

I path of the storm at the Naval Air Station at Bolting Field were badly damaged, and a 65-ton crane there was ! blown over. The damage to property is expected to total more than ! £200,000. An eye-witness said the tornado looked like a huge mass of black cotton-like clouds whirling in every direction. People rushed wildly about in a turmoil of fright and anxiety. Bricks, roof-tops, and other debris were flying through the air. The head of the Weather Bureau I says the tornado was caused by a j warm earth current rising 4,000 ft into j the air. where it encountered a cold j j current. The Secretary for War. Mr. Dwight F. Davis, has ordered out the police reserves, firemen. soldiers and marines to aid in the rescue work.— A. and N.Z.