MISSISSIPPI FLOODS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19620, 26 April 1927, Page 13

MISSISSIPPI FLOODS.

NATIONAL CALAMITY. HUGE AREA UNDER WATER. FRANTIC RELIEF EFFORTS. £1,000,000 FUND SOUGHT. LARGE CITIES IN PERIL. By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright. (Received April 25, 5.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. NEW YORK, April 24. The Mississippi floods have now assumed the proportions of a national disaster. , This fact was recognised yesterday when the President, Mr. Calvin Coolidge, issued a proclamation calling upon the people to contribute £1,000,000 for the immediate relief of the sufferers and the despatch of Mr. H. C. Hoover, Secretary of Commerce, to assuftie control of all the efforts to aid the people in the devastated areas. Seven Government departments—the Army, Navy, Commerce, Inter-State Commerce Commission, Coastguards, Public Health Service and the Veterans' Bureau —have joined with the Red Cross Society in relief efforts, which it is believed will bo the greatest in the history of disasters in this country. Tho town of Memphis, Tennessee, has been made the headquarters of tho organisations, and Mr. Hoover is conducting operations from there. Memphis itself is in imminent danger as the flood rolls down the river to a height of 46ft. Iho crest is expected to be reached tomorrow. Entire Cities Being Flooded. A large corps of engineers is making efforts to save tho still standing embankments and water walls. They say, however, that nothing can save the entire delta in tho region of the Mississippi River. The stream is swelling every hour and gnawing ceaselessly at the embankments, on which men aro toiling night and day with sandbags. Whole cities are flooded and overwhelmed with the flotsam from flimsy shacks in the back country. Greenville, Mississippi, where the normal population was increased from 12,000 to 22,000 by refugees, has now been almost completely evacuated. Shortage of Food and Water. Food and water shortages aro reported from Greenville, which is suffering most acutely, and from all the flood-swept towns in the Mississippi Valley, where many lives have been lost in tho worst inundations in tho history of the river. Naval aeroplanes aro aiding in rescue work. From Arkansas, Mississippi, it is reported that hundreds of people are still isolated on embankments and roofs and in trees. Half a million of the population of New Orleans are practically all below the river level. They are proceeding calmly with their ordinary work. Grocers, however, report heavy sales in some sections, showing that persons are storing food in the event of emergency. The water is waist-deep at Greenville, whero the sanitary conditions are deplorable owing to the failure of the sewerage systems. Rescuing Marooned People. Naval and coastguard cutters are proceeding up the river and returning loaded with refugees, the total of whom is 200.000. Smaller craft are scouring the rural sections and rescuing scores of people who are marooned in trees, on housetops, embankments and mounds. Tho rainfall over the central valley through Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi and Alabama has continued and five tributaries of the Mississippi River, as well as the main stream, have overflowed their banks. New Orleans may soon receive the full force of the downward sweep of the waters. ALARMING REPORTS. THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES. DISEASE EPIDEMICS FEARED. A. and N.Z.-Sun. NEW YORK, April 24. Despatches from Kansas City state that bitter weather yesterday added to the horrors caused by the recent storm and floods. Thousands of disease-stricken and destitute people are fleeing from the flooded areas in the Mississippi area. Flood waters have covered 3000 square mile.? of the Mississippi delta. At least 30 more people were drowned in the Mississippi floods in the past 24 hours. This brings the total death roll from the floods and cyclones to 200. The numbers of injured and missing people are still increasing. Biting cold has added to tho tragedy. There are thousands of destitute people in concentration camps with only canvas shelters. The rise of the rivers has affected the water supplies and in many instances the sewers have backed up. Epidemics of typhoid, diphtheria and other diseases are threatened. Further breaks in the river banks have occurred. The damage to property is now beyond any immediate estimate. About 100,000 persons are homeless and the floods have not yet readied their peak. Nineteen persons were drowned from a Government launch which was carrying refugees up the Mississippi River last night. The launch was caught in a torrent at Knowlton's Landing, Arkansas. At Joplin, Missouri, frost swept the Ozark fruitbelt last evening and destroyed about 50 per cent, of the grape and strawberry crops. A loss of £400,000 is estimated.