STORMS HIT CALIFORNIA

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28552, 3 April 1958, Page 14

STORMS HIT CALIFORNIA

Evacuation Of 600 Persons

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright I (Rec. 8.30 pun.) CHICAGO. April 2.

Parts of California were battered yesterday with floods, a tornado, and strong winds. More than 600 persons were evacuated from their homes when high tides and heavy rains inundated the San Francisco Bay I township of Alviso. About 600 of the township's 900 residents left their homes when water rose to a depth of four to six feet in business and residential districts. The Red Cross said that about 200 families evacuated from the township had moved in with friends in neighbouring towns and villages. Another 85 persons were in motels and private homes around San Jose. One of the evacuees removed by the Red Cross was a child suffering from pneumonia.

In Southern California more evacuations were being considered Two earth slides have rolled down the Pacific Palisades area, burying a coast highway and killing one person. The cliffs had been weakened by steady rain.

The Pacific Palisades Council warned residents to be prepared to leave their homes. Sightseers were told to keep away from the area.

A waterspout came ashore at Laguna Beach, between Los Angeles and San Diego, and wrecked the patio of a home. The waterspout was estimated to be more than 75 feet high. Two other waterspouts broke windows and damaged roofs in Los Angeles In San Diego, gale-force winds, (accompanied by driving rain, uprooted trees, blew over television aerials and caused minor flooding and power disruptions.

Roofs were blown off houses, sheds and garages in towns near San Diego.