NATIONAL CALAMITY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 22 September 1926, Page 5

NATIONAL CALAMITY

FLORIDA HURRICANE.

STORM STILL RAGING

SEVERAL STATES AFFECTED

BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT,

NEW YORK, Sept. 20. The national character of the Florida disaster can be envisaged in the menaced and' wrecked) areas in the face of the material losses suffered' and the vast resources required both to rebuild and make life safe again. Hundreds of miles of sewers overflow'd - Avhen the sea water backed their contents uiion the land, and! typhoid is a real danger. Airplanes haA'e rushed 1000 doses of anti-typhoid and antitetanus serums to the stricken area, and the Pullman Company, Avhich controls all the American railway sleeping car equipment, has placed! its complete resources at the command of the Red) Cross Society for the transport of food), water (which is being rationed 1 on the half-glass basis)., medicinal supplies, nurses and physicians. The Red Cross Society has commanded its staff in 3500 communities throughout the United! States to. prepare for transport into the stricken regions to do relief AA'ork. Vast quantities of materials of all kinds are being put on special trains in many parts of the country for Florida,, but the transportation system, there is so demoralised that three days' after the calamity relief train's are held up outside the stoim-ravaged- districts and cannot enter.

ORGANISING RELIEF

THE FINANCIAL ASPECT

NEW YORK, Sept. 20.

The Florida disaster is no longer a catastrophe affecting a single State, but has assumed the natuie of a nation a! calamity, which is comparable only ivith the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the Galveston flood six years earlier. Although probably unequal to the latter in the matter of loss of life (Galveston’s death-roll was put at OA r er 4500), the latest reports from Florida indicate that the number of dead is 1500, though this, may be an exaggeration. Again, it may be a gross under-estimate of the true condition .' .

The storm, moreover, is continuing its devastating sweep, and is taking on all the aspects of a titanic attempt by the elements to wipe* out human life over a, large area.. Hundreds of summer resorts afiong the coast of the Gulf of Mexico are being emptied, and thousands of people, by train and automobile, are making frantic efforts to escape the incoming whirlwind, which, as the Washington weather bureau warns people, is still extremely dangerous. It is doing serious property damage in the Mississippi and Alabama States, but more than that, it-is again pushing- northward into Florida. It has already hit Pensacola and six towns in the * north-east. These, like the Miami area, are completely cutoff from telegraphic communication, so that advices from these zones are brief and disjointed, as they are only possible through temporarily rigged Avireless stations. ' ' PresidentoCoolidge took control of all relief Avork to-day, and 1 both the Army and. Navy haA'e been l called! in to assist. Several Avarships are being despatched to the scene, carrying 1000 troops. The Navy Department at, the same time called upon all naval reservists Avithin the Florida area to the colours. Airships have been placed 1 at the command of the Red Cross Society, .which, following upon the issue of a proclamation by the President and 1 by- the Governors of many States, has begun the collection, of relief funds to the extent of 500,000,000 dollars. The necessity for military control became celar Avlien .looting broke out in Miami and four looters were shot. Army posts throughout Florida suffered serious damage, but all the available supplies, particularly of clothing, food, and medicine, are being doled out. Business organisations throughout the countryside, besides making money contributions to the relief fundK are also making available supplies of all kinds, including motor vehicles, Avorkmen, and technical equipment.. Damage to property in Florida!, Alabama, Mississippi and' Louisiana; will total many hundred million, dollars. Miami alone suffered a loss conservatively estimated at 100,000,000 dollars. Wall Street, Avhicb has been, a, heavy investor in the Florida, developments, saw an extremely irregular stock market, to-day. Insurance companies AA'ith policies in Florida estimated their losses Avould be? comparatively small 1 , since feAv AA'ould write hurricane insurance risks. Nevertheless, Wall Street bankers expected the, stock. .market would' be flooded with securities released! v by these companies; to obtain funds to pay on such policies, and this i Avould be an ‘extremely disturbing factor in the. financial world. Leading, bankers are prep a red, ruo reoA'er, to place their resources at- the command of the southern! insttiutions. which, along with private persons, will he compelled 1 to bear the* brunt of the cost of property destruction and replacements. There are no indications that the nation’s financial institutions wiU be unable to absorb the loss to business resulting from,the devastation and possible cessation of the' Florida- winter resort income, which lias been. am important factor in the State’s industry, but plans are (being made to -stand, the strain, which will inevitably be placed upon their resources. VANCOUVER., Sept, 20. The latest report from Miami lias placed the knoAVm dead in the Florida storm area, as* a rpsult- of the hurricane and tidal wave- as 325 up to to-night. Teh nijured are estimated to number 4000. and the damage to property 50,000,000 dollars. There are also 40 persons missing, but an accurate estimate of teh toll of the storm is as yet impossible. WASHINGTON, Sent, 20.

The steamer West conk radioed today that seven lost their li\ r es. all the boats were destroyed, and two churches were razed in Saturday’s hurricane in Bimini Island. <,