The True Story of Our National Calamity of Flood, Fire and Tornado

L >> Logan Marshall >> The True Story of Our National Calamity of Flood, Fire and Tornado

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Commerce was soon at a standstill, and conditions continued to grow more
serious. They were in some localities worse than at any time since 1865.
The washing out of bridges and the flooding of roads practically cut the
villages off from the outside world.

DRIVEN FROM HOMES AT OLEAN

One thousand persons were driven from their homes at Olean by the high
waters of the Canisteo and Hornell. John Cook was drowned while
attempting to rescue others.

Four oil tanks were floating about the city of Olean, and the coating of
oil on the water made the danger from fire serious. The water was from
three to ten feet deep.

[Illustration: Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
Showing what was once the town of Lower Peachtree. The six X's denote
the places where houses stood before the tornado, in the heart of the
main residential streets]

[Illustration: Copyright by International News Service.
One of the victims of the tornado at Omaha was picked up by the tornado
and his corpse left suspended in the broken and twisted limbs of a
tree]

WORST FLOOD IN HISTORY OF HORNELL

Following thirty hours of continued rain, Hornell, a small city in
Steuben County, suffered the worst flood in its history. It swept down
the Canisteo Valley, completely inundating the greater portion of the
city of Hornell and half a dozen villages within a radius of ten miles.
A thousand homes were flooded.

The Canisteo Valley for a distance of forty miles was under water, and
the situation was appalling. Roads were washed out, bridges gone and
much property destroyed. The fire in every furnace in the flood district
was out, and suffering was acute.

LAKE COUNTRY PARALYZED WITH FEAR

The lake region in the central western part of the state suffered
heavily from floods. The villages of Marcellus, Camillus and Marietta,
west of Syracuse, were threatened with extinction. The earthen bank,
which adjoins the huge dam of Otisco Lake, weakened and, it was feared
that if the flood conditions did not improve the bank would give way.

Auburn was seriously threatened by the rising of Owasco Lake. The dam
furnishing power to the Dunn and McCarthy shoe shops broke in the center
and it was feared the rest of the structure would go down. Pumps were at
work continuously in the Auburn water works at Owasco Lake to keep the
engine and boiler pits free of water.

The Lehigh Valley Railroad along Cayuga Lake, between Auburn and Ithaca,
was under water for a distance of nine miles south of Kings Ferry. No
trains were running on that branch. A small bridge at Farley's Point,
near the lower end of Cayuga Lake, was washed away. An avalanche of mud
and stones buried the railroad tracks near Kings Ferry.

The incessant rains of two days raised the little creeks in the vicinity
of Interlaken to torrents. Many bridges were washed out.

Canandaigua Lake reached its highest level in sixteen years. Streets in
Canandaigua were flooded.

Floods due to breaks and overflows in the Erie Canal at Waterloo, Seneca
Falls, Port Bryon and elsewhere, caused thousands of dollars loss. The
Seneca River was over its banks.

WATER COVERS PART OF BINGHAMTON

At Binghamton, on the Susquehanna River, water covered the entire
northwestern residence section of the city. All the manufacturing
establishments along the river banks were closed.

Boats were forced into use in the residence districts and the Fire
Department, with three steamers, endeavored to keep down the water in
the basements in the business section.

GLENS FALLS BRIDGE DOWN

But more serious than the conditions anywhere else in New York were
those along the Hudson River Valley. Damage estimated at not less than
$300,000 was caused by high water near Glens Falls, resulting from heavy
rains, which fell for nearly a week.

The steel suspension bridge, two hundred feet in length, across the
Hudson between the city and South Glens Falls was destroyed. All records
for high water were broken, the bridge being carried out after the steel
supports underneath had been constantly pounded for hours by logs dashed
against them by the raging waters.

At Hadley, one of the plants of the Union Bag and Paper Company was
completely flooded, and water was pouring from every window. It was
feared that the structure might be destroyed. All paper mills in the
section were closed down.

DISTRESS IN FORT EDWARD

At Fort Edward village $50,000 damage was done. About one hundred
families were driven from their homes to seek shelter in higher parts of
the village. Many parts of the village were submerged and in the main
business section five feet of water filled the cellars on the river side
of the street. The water had reached the windows of the first stories of
many houses in the lower sections. Trains of loaded coal cars were used
to hold down the monster railroad bridge of the Delaware and Hudson
Company at this village while big jams of logs threatened to carry it
out.

BIG PAPER COMPANY IN TROUBLE

At least 150 feet of the big dam of the International Paper Company at
Corinth was carried out and the mill partly flooded. A small part of the
same company's dam at Fort Edward was also carried out. The
International was one of the heaviest losers.

HOMES ABANDONED IN SCHENECTADY

At Schenectady, just west of the Hudson on the Mohawk, houses on
twenty-five streets were abandoned by their occupants. The entire lower
section of the city was submerged.

The whole Mohawk Valley was swept by the worst flood in its history.

The Groff dam near Herkimer broke and several houses were carried away.
A dam at Canajoharie threatened to go out. Three great canal gates at
Fort Plain were swept away. The Amsterdam reservoir, which covers 680
acres, was weakened and a patrol was stationed there.

HIGH WATERS IN TROY

So great was the flood in Troy, on the Hudson below the entrance of the
Mohawk, that martial law was practically declared. Members of two
military companies patrolled the streets, relieving the tired firemen
and police, many of whom had been on continuous duty for forty-eight
hours. Mayor Burns did not sleep for two nights, taking charge in person
of the Public Safety Department.

Fires added to the seriousness of the flood situation and firemen were
kept busy all day answering alarms in the flooded district. Damage
estimated at thousands of dollars was done by the fire.

For the first time in the history of Troy the newspapers, with one
exception, were unable to go to press. One publication printed a
four-page pamphlet on a hand press. Another was printed in Albany.

Hundreds of families were rendered homeless, and relief stations in
various parts of the city were filled with refugees. The city faced an
epidemic of typhoid, and every effort was made to guard against it.

WATERVLIET FLOODED

In Watervliet the water in many places measured ten feet deep and the
police station and post-office were flooded. One-third of Green Island
was submerged. In Rensselaer, across the river from Albany, much damage
and suffering were caused.

The losses of logs in the regions to the north amounted to many
thousands of dollars and the damage in the lumber district of Albany was
heavy.

ALBANY IN THE GRIP OF THE FLOOD

On March 27th the river at Albany was seventeen feet above normal and
was still rising. The power plants were put out of commission, street
car traffic practically suspended and schools and factories closed. The
city's filtration plant was threatened. The south end of the city was
under water.

Railroad service was crippled, mails delayed and telegraph and telephone
service hampered. There was much damage to property, but no loss of
life.

The damage in Albany was estimated at $1,000,000. Governor Sulzer was
informed that about $3,500,000 will be necessary to repair the
embankments along the old and the new barge canal locks and dams.

CHAPTER XXVII

THE FLOOD IN PENNSYLVANIA

TRAINS IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA TIED UP--MEADVILLE
SUBMERGED--SHENANGO VALLEY IN DISTRESS--PANIC IN NEW CASTLE--BEAVER
RIVER AT FLOOD--THE RISING ALLEGHENY AT WARREN--FEARS OF OIL
CITY--GRAVE SITUATION OF PITTSBURGH.

Many dead, hundreds ill, thousands homeless, and many millions of
dollars' worth of property destroyed--such was the record of the flood
in the Keystone State.

By Tuesday, March 25th, railroad travel in northwestern Pennsylvania was
seriously tied up on account of washouts, due to recent rains. Corry
became the western terminal of the Erie Railroad, trains west of Corry
being abandoned. Between Corry and Titusville were four washouts, tying
up the Pennsylvania Railroad.

MEADVILLE SUBMERGED

In Meadville the situation was even worse. Once again Mill Run and
Neason's Run, combined with the floods of French and Cussewago Creeks,
overflowed the city.

With the exception of a few of the high sections, the entire city was
under water, which in some sections reached to the second story of
homes. Business places on lower Chestnut, Water, Market and South Main
Streets and Park Avenue were submerged, water running through the main
rooms of the hotels and other business places. The waters had a clear
sweep of nearly half of the city, and never before had the four streams
combined for such a gambol.

SHENANGO VALLEY IN DISTRESS

Throughout the Shenango Valley hundreds of families were imprisoned in
their homes and frantic efforts were made to rescue the marooned persons
from their dangerous positions. At Sharon the greatest flood in the
history of the city was experienced. Thousands of persons were thrown
out of employment and the property loss was enormous. The entire town
was inundated and a dozen or more bridges were wrecked. The loss of the
United States Steel Corporation at Farrel, a suburb, was estimated at
$200,000.

The torrent swept swiftly upon Sharon. The crest reached a height of
fifty feet. The released wall of water, gathering buildings, stacks of
lumber, hundreds of logs and a mass of debris in its van as a giant
battering ram, rolled like a giant hoop into the center of the thriving
milling town. It followed the course of the Shenango, which bisects the
city.

After the flood unsuccessfully rammed the double line of steel buildings
the torrent passed further to the center of the city. One pier of a
concrete bridge, erected two years before, which spans Silver and
Porter Streets, cracked off like a matchstick. The impact carried the
block of concrete, weighing several tons, for a distance of a quarter of
a mile.

Fire added to the terror of the flood when Wishart's planing mill, on
Railroad Street, was discovered to be in flames Tuesday afternoon. The
steamers of the fire companies could not be taken close enough to pump
water from the swollen Shenango. There was only one recourse--to take
the supply of drinking water in the city's reservoir or permit the fire
to burn and possibly jeopardize all the wooden buildings within a radius
of a mile. Sharonites actually cheered the firemen as they saw their
drinking water vanish.

PANIC IN NEW CASTLE

The flood waters of the Shenango caused great distress in New Castle and
near-by places. The water put the lighting plants and the city water
station out of commission. Fifteen hundred homes were submerged.
Thousands had to flee.

BEAVER RIVER AT FLOOD

The Beaver River rose high and the entire valley from the Ohio River
north was flooded. The towns of New Brighton, Fallston and Beaver Falls
suffered most, and there was some damage at Rochester. Traffic on the
railroads was suspended at daybreak, and not a trolley car was running
in the valley.

THE RISING ALLEGHENY AT WARREN

At Warren and points all down the length of the Allegheny River to
Pittsburgh, flood conditions were still more serious.

For Warren itself the worst was feared. Hourly the flood situation grew
worse. On Wednesday the water was rising at the rate of four inches an
hour. The river threatened to cut a new channel through the south side
of the city and scores of men were piling up sandbags to prevent this.

[Illustration: MAP SHOWING SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES AND TOWNS IN
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA THAT WERE FLOODED]

Captain U. G. Lyons assumed charge of the situation, and under his
direction a life raft composed of barrels was made and launched in the
Allegheny River. Thanks to the raft, not one life was lost from among
the many who floated down the stream on debris.

FEARS OF OIL CITY

Oil City, on Oil Creek near its entrance to the Allegheny River, was in
a serious plight. Oil Creek overflowed its banks and covered the portion
of town that was devastated by the great fire and flood of 1892.

The town was in a condition bordering on panic and business was
suspended. More than seventy-five persons were removed from their homes
in wagons, the water being from five to six feet deep. Railroads
suffered heavily.

Newspapers and industrial plants at Oil City were shut down because of
flooded power rooms. Fires were prohibited and railroad locomotives were
ordered to extinguish their fires to avoid any danger of igniting the
oil.

GIRL DROWNED AT FRANKLIN

One death and extensive property damage were caused in the vicinity of
Franklin by the flooded condition of the Allegheny River and French
Creek.

Every one in the flooded district was ordered to extinguish all fires,
as benzine from the Titusville refineries was floating on the rising
waters.

GRAVE SITUATION OF PITTSBURGH

In Pittsburgh the flood situation became serious by the evening of March
26th, and continued to grow rapidly worse. The gauge at Point Bridge
shewed twenty-six feet at eight o'clock, four feet above the danger
point, and the rivers were rising steadily. Rain was falling throughout
the western watershed, and every stream in western Pennsylvania assumed
the proportions of a raging torrent.

In the Pittsburgh district 100,000 were idle, the workmen having been
driven from the manufacturing plants by high waters. Ten miles of
streets were converted into canals. In parts of the North Side the
streets were under twelve feet of water. The policeboats patrolled the
flooded district, carrying coal and food to families marooned in the
upper floors of their homes.

Pittsburgh's suburbs down the Ohio were all partly inundated. Ambridge,
Woodlawn, Sewickley, Coraopolis and McKees Rocks residents were forced
to desert their homes or take to the upper floors.

Downtown the pumps were working in most of the hotels, theatres and
office buildings. Business was nearly at a standstill. Hundreds of
thousands of dollars worth of store goods was ruined. The Exposition
Music Hall was holding four feet of water.

No trains were running to the flooded regions. At least a score of
railroad bridges had been destroyed, and miles of tracks carried away.
The railroad damage contributed largely to the estimated total damage of
$50,000,000.

TOLL OF THE FLOOD AT SHAMOKIN

In Central Pennsylvania, especially along the Susquehanna, the flood
gripped many towns. At Shamokin mountain streams overflowed their banks,
and in some instances water flowed down mine breaches and found its way
to the lower levels of collieries. Mine pumps were run to their
greatest capacity to prevent inundations. The Shamokin Creek, in
Shamokin Valley, overflowed its banks in the lowlands and spread over
acres of ground on either side of the creek channel.

COLUMBIA AND MARIETTA FLOODED

More than three inches of water fell at Columbia in a period of
twenty-four hours. All the streams overflowed and much damage was done.
Trains on the Columbia branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad ran through
eighteen inches of water. The storm was accompanied by high winds, which
unroofed scores of buildings.

At Marietta, after a storm reported as the worst in many years, the
flood situation was grave. The river rose high, fields were flooded and
residents on Front Street were obliged to move to second stories. Two
men upset in a boat along the York County shore while after ducks were
drowned.

DESTRUCTION AND DAMAGE IN MINING TOWNS

Many of the mining towns in Pennsylvania were distressed by
unprecedented floods. At Scranton the Lackawanna River overflowed its
banks in various places. Richmond No. 1 and No. 2 collieries and the
Delaware and Hudson "slope" colliery in North Scranton were compelled to
shut down by reason of the water flooding the engine rooms. The Ontario
and Western tracks at Providence and the Delaware and Hudson tracks at
Dickson City were washed out. Water surrounded the Frisbie and the Bliss
silk mills in Dickson City and the girls were marooned for the night.

Six hundred people living on "Hungarian Flats," in the northern end of
the city, became panic-stricken when water broke through the streets,
and, taking their cattle and household goods, they fled to the hills at
Throop.

At Wilkes-Barre the Susquehanna reached the flood stage. The water went
over the lowlands on the west side and Wilkes-Barre was cut off from
many of its suburban towns, all traffic being stopped. The towns of
Edwardsville, Kingston, Westmoor and West Nanticoke were partly under
water. Five hundred families were driven from their homes and forced to
seek safety. The water rose so rapidly that it was necessary to rescue
women and children in rowboats. Considerable damage was done to
property, but there was no loss of life.

In Westmoor, Edwardsville and West Nanticoke the water reached the first
floors of the buildings. Families were compelled to depart and leave
their furnishings to be damaged by the water.

As a result of heavy rains the water rose high in many of the mines of
the Hazleton region. Railroad men were warned to be on guard for
washouts.

The Beaver Brook and Hazle Mountain mines closed on account of high
water. The mules were removed from the Ebervale, Harleigh and Beaver
Brook workings.

At Shenandoah the storm that raged for two days did untold damage to the
mines. At Kehley Run Colliery the water main that supplies the boilers
with water was washed away and the colliery was compelled to shut down.
The fires were hurriedly drawn, thereby preventing an explosion. At
Bast Colliery, near Girardville, the water rushed into a mine breach and
flooded the workers. It was with difficulty the miners escaped.

Electric-light, telephone and telegraph wires were down in Shenandoah,
and many homes in the lowlands were flooded. The trolley and steam roads
were hampered by the heavy rains, and in many places tracks were washed
out.

Heavy floods caused the entombment of six men at the Buck Run Colliery,
at Mount Pleasant, and a rescuing party worked up to their necks in
water to get the men out alive. The softness of the earth caused the
sagging of a breast, which was followed by a sudden rush of water,
cutting off the escape of the entombed men.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE FLOOD IN THE OHIO VALLEY

PERIL IN THE OHIO VALLEY--DISTRESS AT WHEELING--PARKERSBURG UNDER
WATER--KENTUCKY TOWNS SUBMERGED--IMPERILED TOWNS IN
INDIANA--SHAWNEETOWN SUBMERGED--CAIRO FACING CRISIS--SITUATION
HOURLY WORSE.

While Dayton, Columbus and other cities of the Middle West were passing
through the worst floods in their history, the Ohio River was preparing
new perils. All along its course it carried destruction.

DISTRESS AT WHEELING

At Wheeling, as early as March 26th, several persons were drowned and
many narrowly escaped death when a freshet swept down Wheeling Creek
through Barton, Ohio.

Two days later, with the crest of the flood past, Wheeling turned to
take up in earnest the task of caring for her thousands of destitute and
homeless.

Although the loss in money ran into millions, few of those able to aid
seemed to think of anything but the alleviation of want and suffering.
Before noon Mayor Kirk had raised more than $6,000 for the relief fund,
and most of the wealthy men and women of Wheeling had contributed.
Churches, schools, clubs, auditorium, public halls and hundreds of
private residences were thrown open to those driven from the lower
quarters.

PARKERSBURG UNDER WATER

More than half the business district of Parkersburg and part of the
residence section were under water on March 28th, with the Ohio River
still rising. The gas, electric and water plants went out of commission
soon after noon, and street cars stopped operations. All the newspaper
plants were flooded out except that of the Parkersburg _Sentinel_, whose
editorial force was taken to the building in boats, and worked on the
second story while water was flowing through the rooms below them. A
single page, printed on a proof press and containing the flood news of
the Associated Press report, was delivered to newsboys in boats, who
sold each copy at a fancy price, as the printing of the edition was
limited to two a minute.

KENTUCKY TOWNS SUBMERGED

The crest of the Ohio river flood reached Louisville April 1st, with a
stage of about forty-five feet.

The railroad situation in Louisville became acute. The Louisville,
Henderson and St. Louis suspended traffic entirely. The Louisville and
Nashville from Cincinnati could reach the city only by detouring through
Jeffersonville, Indiana, crossing the swollen Ohio on the Big Four
bridge and returning via the Pennsylvania bridge to reach the Louisville
and Nashville station, which was used also by the Pennsylvania trains.

[Illustration: Copyright by American Press Association.
Scene showing a section of Omaha entirely wrecked. On the left is all
that remains of Idlewild Hall. At this spot a large number of people
were killed]

[Illustration: Copyright by the International News Service.
A typical scene at one of the relief stations. Here men, who a few hours
before had been millionaires, stood in line with their fellow citizens,
quite as much dependent on these relief stations for sustenance as
paupers. Orville Wright, the famous aviator, was one of the men in the
bread line]

Western Kentucky points continued to report rising water. Owensboro,
Henderson and Wickliffe were centers of refuge for inhabitants of the
lowlands, who fled before the flood. There were more than four thousand
refugees at Wickliffe.

At Paducah on April 3d the flood situation was rendered doubly grave by
the fact that smallpox had broken out in the camp of colored refugees on
Gregory Heights. Five hundred on the hill had been quarantined.

IMPERILED TOWNS IN INDIANA

The government relief boat "Scioto," in command of Lieutenant Hight, U.
S. A., towed a barge load of provisions into Lawrenceburg, Indiana, on
March 31st, to find but forty of the five thousand homes there not under
water. When the boat proceeded to Aurora conditions were found almost as
bad, with but five hundred homes free from the reach of the
all-engulfing waters.

The south levee at Lawrenceburg broke at 2.50 P. M. on March 29th. A
wall of water poured through the opening and went raging through the
center of the town, tearing up all before it. Houses were crushed like
eggshells and the wreckage was carried four miles along the Miami to the
fill on the main line of the Big Four. The break came when it was least
expected, but the residents were warned to leave town, and no lives were
lost. Water stood six feet deep in the streets.

JEFFERSONVILLE AND EVANSVILLE FLOODED

At Jeffersonville two hundred convicts from the Indiana Reformatory
worked for nearly two days on the levee during the flood week, and
through their work it was possible to save the town from the Ohio River.

A committee of citizens of Jeffersonville perfected arrangements for a
banquet to be given in honor of the gray-garbed men who saved their
homes. The entertainment was planned for April 13th, at a cost of
$1,000.

Evansville citizens were alarmed at the continued rise of the Ohio, and
all movables were carried to places of certain safety. On April 1st, the
Government took charge of the flood situation. Captain W. K. Naylor
hastened to commandeer steamboats and patrol the river to pick up flood
sufferers. Mayor Charles Heilman left for Mount Vernon to take charge of
rescue work in that section.

Thirty thousand persons within a radius of ninety miles around Mount
Vernon were calling for help on April 4th.

The Howell levee, protecting two hundred families in Ingleside, between
Evansville and Howell, gave way and the Ingleside district was inundated
with depths of from six to ten feet. Minutemen had been posted all long
the dangerous dike, and when the water began to pour over the top an
alarm was sounded and all escaped.

SHAWNEETOWN SUBMERGED

Shawneetown, Illinois, was entirely cut off from the outside world. On
the night of April 1st, the water in the streets was twelve feet deep.
After another twenty-four hours, all that was left of Shawneetown were
the few substantial brick and stone buildings behind the main levee, and
they were considered unsafe. Less than one hundred persons remained in
the former town of three thousand, and they were perched in the second
and third stories of Main Street buildings, structures on the highest
street in the town. A strong wind completed the destruction begun by the
opening of the levee.

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