DEAD LYING IN HEAPS IN HURRICANE’S WAKE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1071, 8 September 1930, Page 9

DEAD LYING IN HEAPS IN HURRICANE’S WAKE

FLOODS ADD TO HORROR FRANTIC RELIEF WORKERS United P.A. —By Telegraph—Copyright WASHINGTON, Saturday. Messages from Santo Domingo state that the hurricane caused at least 4,000 deaths and it is feared that the number will reach 5,000.

Only 400 of the 10,000 houses in the city were left standing and many thousands of people are homeless. The dead are being extricated rapidly. Thirty per cent, of more than 5,000 people injured are expected to die. Fifty mothers and their new-born infants were killed through the collapse of a maternity home. Many people were decapitated by sheets of zinc, with which the buildings were lined. A United States marine officer said it was as if a giant hand had smashed the city like a toy and then stirred the pieces with a stick. There is no water fit to drink, as the waterworks were demolished and the river is a sea of mud.

Floods have washed out newlyburied dead and coffins are floating around like corks. The dead are being collected in heaps and burned with wreckage, as the authorities otherwise feared a plague. HUGE FUNERAL PYRES Concrete cisterns are being used as funeral pyres, where as many as 50 bodies at a time are being cremated. The wrecked city today was enveloped in smoke from these funeral pyres. The damage to property is now estimated at between £8.000,000 and £10,000,000. Hour by hour the horror grows as refugees continue to drift in from outlying towns, bringing new tales of death and destruction. Along the muddy streets of the city proper, and the banks of the River Ozama the dead still lie in piles—a menace to the health of the community. All the available houses, churches and hospitals are filled with injured people. The oity is still without light or power. A squadron of six Cuban airplanes, bearing physicians and medical supplies, landed this morning, and a ship arrived with food and medical supplies. Their arrival brought new hope to the little body of local officials, who have worked without rest. ROADS IMPASSABLE

Parties have penetrated an area of 15 miles on every side of Santo Domingo. They report that all is a state of desolation. The injured in outlying sections, owing to the impassability of the roads, have little hope of receiving aid for days. Among the buildings left is the 400-year-old cathedral containing the reputed tomb of Christopher Columbus. Interior towns did not suffer as much as the capital. Relief is being dispatched to all points as quickly as possible. The capital is still isolated on the land side by floods, fallen trees and wrecked bridges. Electric and water plants are down and not functioning. FOOD RELIEF The Dominican Government is organising mobile kitchens to feed the thousands of homeless people. Haiti is sending relief by motor-lorries overland, but it is feared the impassable roads may prevent their arrival. The Cuban Government not only sent eight physicians by airplane, but ordered the cruiser Patria to proceed to Santo Domingo immediately with food and medicines.

The American Red Cross Society has contributed £IO,OOO toward the rehabilitation of the stricken areas, and much more is expected from private sources.

The United States marine commander in Haiti has asked the Santo Domingo Government to prepare a landing place, as he is planning to establish a regular airplane transportation service to carry necessary supplies.