GALE SWEEPS EUROPE

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 52, 25 November 1930, Page 9

GALE SWEEPS EUROPE

Widespread Flooding BELGIUM AND FRANCE Flight of Peasants SOMME A GREAT LAKE Practically the whole of Western Europe, including the coast lino of Britain, has been swept by a violent storm, accompanied by heavy rains. Flooding is widespread in Belgium, where peasants have fled from their homes; also in France, whore low-lying country is inundated. The river Somme has formed a great lake. By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright (Rec. November 24, 5.5 p.m.) Loudon, November 23. A very severe storm was experienced throughout Belgium, especially about Termonde, where an eighty yards breach occurred In the Scheldt dykes, which collapsed because of a high tide. This afternoon the vicinity presented a scene of desolation, recalling the war-time suffering of refugees. The roads were crowded at dusk with straggling processions of peasants from the submerged villages, men trudging with bare feet on roads flooded kneedeep and pushing trucks loaded with their. belongings. The women were holding up their skirts and driving livestock. Small children were in a pitiful plight because of hunger and the pitiless rain. Parents were carrying some and gendarmes others. Troops to Assist. Many dykes are broken down at Antwerp and elsewhere, while the whole country near Crammont is submerged. The authorities are sending troops to assist with relief. Many low-lying parts of France are flooded. The Somme overflowed, forming a great lake over which boats are carrying provisions to stranded people. Three barges sank in a weir at Ivry, drowning a nineteen-year-old girl and a man who dived to her rescue. A crane at Rouen crashed down, killing a man. Several others were injured by falling masonry. At Rheims great damage was done. In Paris chimneypots were felled by the gale. The fire brigades were called out 150 times to clear up wreckage. A falling door killed a man in Vienna. Many suf'fered minor injuries. Historic Gale Recalled. Other messages point out that the gale raged on the anniversary of the great storm of. 1703, when hundreds were killed on land and sea, and which has been marked by a "storm sermon’’ preached annually at St. Giles’s, Klngsway, in accordance with a bookseller’s thanks-offerlng for the safety of his family. High winds on the British coasts were accompanied by rough seas, and many ships were In distress, lifeboats being frequently called out. A schooner yacht was driven ashore at Shipwash Shoal, Essex, the occupants, seven men and two women, being rescued by lifeboats. The captain was severely burnt as ihe result of the explosion of a petrol tin while he was lighting flares. V A 78-mile wind blew at Birmingham, many trees being blown clown. There is much anxiety and fears of flooding owing to high tides in the Thames. Flooding in Germany. Extensive floods occurred in France, Belgium, and Germany, and . many rivers overflowed, notably the Scheldt, the Meuse, and tributaries, inundating hundreds of houses. The Inmates were rescued by means of Improvised rafts. The flooding of the Rhine tributaries caused the stoppage of navigation, and the closing down of three powerplants. The wind reached 100 miles an hour at Munich, blowing down the 260-foot masts of a broadcasting sta tion into a neighbouring prison yard. There were no casualties. The violent tempest damaged French towns and ports on the Atlantic and Channel coasts. Thousands of chimneys and roofs at Vienna were damaged, and the streets were littered to a depth of several inches with glass, brick ends, and slates.