HURRICANE STILL RACING.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 20 September 1928, Page 8

HURRICANE STILL RACING.

SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA ALSO VISITED SHIPS RUSH FOR SHELTER. Received Wednesday, 7,5 p.m. NEW YORK. Sept. 19. An intimation that there are as many as 250 dead and 1000 injured in Florida is believed to be well founded. Property damage in Florida alone is placed at 25,000,-. 000 dollars, while the total for the entire stricken area may be 100,000,000. The hurricane is still raging northward with little loss of intensity and the entire south-east is now cut off. Charleston and South Carolina cannot be reached in any manner and unless there is immediately a decided shift in the storm’s course, its 2000 mile path will be extended well northward. The hurricane smashed through Georgia, leaving misery and destruction in its wake. The coastguard is prepared to aid shipping as far north as Boston and all ships are rushing to shelter. The majority of the people who are dead in Florida have not been identified. Some centres are experiencing difficulty in burying 'all those stricken. Looting is feared and the whole -State is asking for martial law. The Palm Beaches have been utterly wrecked. Trees and houses were swept, crushed and splintered in all directions and practically no buildings of any sort are undamaged. The most serious loss df life seems to have been in the Lake Okeechobee region, where floods and bursting dams have added to the work of the wind. This section was completely inundated and little outside aid is available. Caretakers of many homes belonging wealthy residents reported the estates '‘ruined” when roofs and walls collapsed, exposing furnishing and art objects to the wind and rain and they admitted lookers to search the masses of debris. Washington was excited by an unfounded radio report that the hurricane' would hit the capital. The National Meteorological Bureau, however, has insisted it will, pass some distance south-east of Washington to-morrow. ■ Wholesale warnings were issued today for the East coast of the United States from Virginia Capes td Atlantic City, while the effects of the storm will be felt as far north as Boston. The New York Weather Bureau issued storm warnings, with, predictions of high winds and heavy rain. Eleven inches of rain fell in Savannah and Georgia and heavy rains fell in Norfolk (Virginia) to-day. Governor Martin, of Florida, to-day appealed for the immediate supply of aid ■from the United States Department of War, indicating that the position is probably even more serious than that caused by the 1926 disaster. The Secretary, Mr. Davis, immediately ordered the Fourth Army Corps to render all aid possible. ■ News from Jacksonville states that the total of those known to be dead in the Florida storm had mounted to 250 last night and it was estimated it would eventually reach 400. The value of property damaged is estimated at from 25,000,000 to 100,000,000 dollars.