TERRIBLE FLOODS

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2636, 4 June 1889, Page 2

TERRIBLE FLOODS

(l!Y ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH —COPYRIGHT). New York, June 1. Terrible floods, attended with great loss of life, are reported from Pennsylvania. A terrific freshet burst a reservoir at Johnstown, near Pittsburg, three miles in length and one mile and a-half wide. The water rushed into Johnstown, which was completely wiped out, and it is estimated that fifteen hundred persons have been drowned. The bsdies of those drowned are to be seen floating down the river in hundreds. It is feared that the villages of Southport, Mineral Point, Cuvenmaugh, and Woodville have suffered, and that 8000 persons have been drowned. Many wealthy families at Pittsburg reside in the locality, and there is intense excitement as to their fate. The railway line from Baltimore to Ohio has been damaged. A tremendous rain storm has deluged Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, submerging many of the towns. Great anxiety is felt for the safety of the residents, and this is intensified owing to the suspension of communication by telegraph and railway. It is estimated that the floods in Pennsylvania resulted in damage to the extent of £1,000,000. June 2. The debris from wooden houses at Johnstown washed up by the flood into an embankment three quarters of a mile long and 40 feet high, caught fire, and hundreds of unfortunate people, who had taken refuge on it were burnt to death. So far 1,100 bodies have been recovered. It ia reported that seventy people also suffered a similar fate on debris at a place called Nineva.