BLIZZARDS IN N. AMERICA

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 December 1927, Page 7

BLIZZARDS IN N. AMERICA

MANY DEATHS FROM COLD FIRES ADD TO LOSSES (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) (By Cable—Press Assn.—Copyright.) NEW YORK, December 8. Great blizzards, extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Great Lakes, and freezing temperatures in California, Louisiana and Georgia, with a threat of floods in Vermont, have brought a unique winter to the United States. There are sixteen persons reported dead through cold. Five deaths have resulted from exposure in Western Canada. One hundred and fifty men were imprisoned for twenty-four hours by snow in the Ford mine, in Michigan. They were saved through the use of skis. Railway cuttings were filled with twenty-five feet of snow. Fire brought an additional menace. A million dollars blaze destroyed the Kansas City stockyard. A fire in East Chicago, wiped out an entire business block. GREAT SHIPPING LOSSES. (A.P.A. & Sun.) NEW YORK, December 9. A Chicago message states that more, than thirty persons died as the result of a terrific blizzard, accompanied by sub-zero temperatures, which gripped practically the entire mid-western States since Tuesday. On the Great Lakes, a terrific storm worked havoc among the shipping. Several vessels are ashore and ’ a score missing, but are believed, to have sought shelter.

ENORMOUS PROPERTY DAMAGE NEW YORK, Dec. 9. A message from Chicago states that the cold wave which swept nearly across the Continent, -within the week caused intense suffering and heavy damage to property, especially in the Rocky Mountains States and the MidWest. Thirty-eight are known •to be dead, but the total is expected to reach forty or fifty, when communication is established with the isolated districts. Ten died from cold and exposure in Chicago alone on the night of Dec. 8. The temperature was below zero. The weather in Michigan and vicinity disorganised shipping on the Great Lakes. A large wheat ship was stranded on rocks and another vessel foundered. Others are distressed. The fate of the crews of some is unknown. The schools are closed and the train service is disrupted. The Air Mail service west of Chicago is cancelled and telephone and telegraph services are disrupted. High winds and the full moon caused the tides to reach new levels in New’ York Harbour, threatening the sea wall. The Delaware river districts w r ere also flooded. Police stations in the large cities, particularly Chicago, were opened to the homeless. Hospitals and charitable organisations were taxed to capacity, the latter turning almost its entire attention to obtaining coal for the needy. Livestock were hard hit as the farmers are prevented by snow from reaching the suffering cattle. Over heated stoves and furnaces caused many bad fires throughout the country. It is impossible to estimate the total property damage, which is enormous.

CANADIAN PRAIRIES SWEPT. NEW YQRK, December 9. A Winnipeg report states that the worst storm for many years swept the prairies and is now spreading to Eastern Canada. » Six lives were lost in a blizzard in Alberta and Saskatchewan.