HAVOC IN WEST INDIES

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 299, 18 September 1928, Page 11

HAVOC IN WEST INDIES

ISLANDS RAKED BY TORNADO DEATHS ESTIMATED AT TWO THOUSAND GOVERNOR OF PORTO RICO APPEALS FOR HELP Later reports of the hurricane which has swept the West India Islands show that the loss of life and the property damage are much greater than was supposed. The dead are estimated to number two thousand, and the material damage is placed at a hundred million dollars. The Governor of Porto Rico has appealed for food and clothing for the sufferers, declaring that the situation is so terrible as to demand immediate action. United Press Association.—-By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright. (Ausitralian Press Assn. —United Service, i

New York, ‘September 16. The hurricane, which destroyed Porto Rico and the eastern shore of Santo Domingo and the Virgin Islands, with unabated force raked the Bahamas on Sunday. Seventy per cent, of the buildings at San Juan, Porto Rico, are said to have been destroyed. Ten are dead and seven hundred homeless at Ponce and thirty dead at Humaco, and hundreds are homeless. At St. Croix, Virgin Islands, shipping was destroyed. A vessel was reported lost with all hands at Turk Island. Tens of thousands of inhabitants in the stricken islands are homeless, and assistance is imperative to avoid disease and famine. The coffee, tobacco, and fruit crops were ruined, and power, light, and water supplies disrupted. The total number of deaths is unknown, because communications are broken. It is believed the number is high. At Rockford (Illinois) fifteen are dead and missing, and a hundred injured as the result of Friday’s hurricane. (British Official Wireless.) Rugby, September 15. Details of the damage done in the British West Indies by the tornado which has swept the Caribbean Sea are not yet available. Porto Rico, which is an American dependency, has suffered considerably, and it is feared that the neighbouring Leeward Islands have fared similarly. The reported course of the hurricane is west-north-westwards, and its rate of progress would seem to bring it in contact with the Orcoma, in which Sir Austen Chamberlain, British Foreign Secretary, and his family are passengers. Ofiicials of the company which owns the Orcoma believe, however, that the ship has altered its course to avoid the hurricane. Later messages confirm this belief. The Orcoma is expected to arrive at Havana on September 16. PORTO RICO VIRTUALLY RUINED (Australian Press Assn.—United Service.) New York, September 16. Later estimates of the death-roll in the hurricane disaster in Porto Rico, still considered conservative, place the number of the dead at two thousand, while tens of thousands are homeless. The property damage is estimated at well over a hundred million dollars. Miraculously only one was killed in San Juan, which is the capital of Porto Rico, but the rest of the island is virtually ruined. All crops are destroyed, and canneries and sugar refineries have been razed to the ground just as they were beginning to handle bumper crops. AU bridges have gone, and the roads are ruined. Pestilence and starvation are appearing amid the welter of wreckage. Fire and landslides are occurring everywhere. Whole sides of mountains have been swept into valleys and practically all the trees destroyed. HALF OF POPULATION HOMELESS (Australian Press Assn.—United Service.) (Rec. September 17, 7.5 p.m.) Washington, September 16. Half the population of Porto Rico are homeless. The extent of the damage resulting from the hurricane is increased in reports received on Sunday by the Government. The Governor of Porto Rico, Mr. Towner, in a cable message pleading for food and clothing for the sufferers, said great help was needed, declaring that the situa tion was so terrible as to demand immediate action. The leading citizens have petitioned the Governor to impose martial law throughout the island, to requisition all food supplies, and draft all able-bodied men for relief work. COMMUNICATIONS PARTLY RE-ESTABLISHED (Australian Press Association.) (Rec. September 17, 5.5 p.m.) I’orto Kico, September 16. The partly rt>established communications are revealing additional fatalities as a result of Thursday’s hurricane. Conservative estimates now

place the material damage at above fifty millions, and probably well over a hundred have been killed and hundreds are seriously injured. The destruction at Ponce is terrific. Food, clothing and medical assistance are desperately needed. Reports are coming in slowly, and it it will doubtless be some time before the damage in the smaller districts are known. The Governor of Porto Rico, Mr. H. JI. Towner, states: “The disaster is greater than was at first reported.” ESTIMATES OF DAMAGE THE CROP LOSSES (Australian Press Assn.—United Service.) (Rec. September 17, 7.5 p.m.) San Juan, September 16. More than 25u persons were actuallyreported dead up to 6 o’clock on Sunday night in nine of the seventy-seven towns as a result of the hurricane. More than 70 per cent, of the island’s population live in rural sections, from which it may be weeks before accurate reports are received. A careful check of the damage has resulted in a total estimate of seventy-five million dollars, with many items not listed, which it is believed will increase it to a hundred million. The estimated losses include: Coffee crop, 10 million dollars; coffee trees, 10 millions: sugar cane crop, 20 millions; sugar centrals, five millions; tobacco, five millions; citrus crop, five millions; railway and power, three millions; telephone and telegraph, two millions, DEATHS IN ILLINOIS (Australian Press Association.) (Rec. September 17, 7.5 p.m.) New York, September 16: At. Rockford, Illlnios, the death total is now nine, and five more bodies are believed to have been located. Florida reports are most vague, but the West. Coast of the State is expecting the storm to reach there soon, as it is experiencing extraordinary weather conditions. Red Cross units are leaving Washington for the south. The Vice-Presidential nominee, Senator Robinson, who is in Florida, is aiding the relief work, ANXIETY IN FLORIDA HURRICANE THRASHING THE COAST PEOPLE FLEEING FROM DANGER ZONES (Aus'ralian Press Association.) (Rec. September 17, 5.5 p.m.) New York, September 16. A message from Jacksonville states that the gravest anxiety is prevailing in Florida to-night, as the hurricane, probably unprecedented in intensity, is flinging itself against the East Coast with destructive fury. Fear has been brought to the residents of the coast towns and cities by the terrific winds, sweeping rains, and tremendous seas. Before communications with Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, which are the centre of the storm, went out a ninety’ miles wind was reported, and there were fortyfoot waves breaking over the boulevards. Much damage had already been done to trees and smaller homes. Aqtomobiles were blocking the roads as people were trying to flee from the danger zones. Messages received in Boston state that Miami also is suffering, and people are packing into storm-proof houses. No word is obtainable from the Bahamas, so it is felt that the hurricane has destroyed the radio stations there. The naval station at Jupiter Inlet, Florida, has been destroyed. No lives are as yet reported to have been lost, but no communications remain where the hurricane has been most severe. PART OF FLORIDA ISOLATED ANXIETY GROWING (Australian Press Assn.—United Service.) (Rec. September 17, 11.10 p.m.) New York, September 17. News from Miami states that West Palm beach and a strip of the east coast of Florida, fifty miles in length, were isolated on Sunday night by flic West Indian hurricane. Apprehension is growing as no word has been received from the area.