APPALLING CALAMITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19918, 11 April 1928, Page 6

APPALLING CALAMITY.

* ICALIFOENIAN BAM BTJE3TS. DEATH AND DESTRUCTION. [ ABOUT 200 LIVES LOST. (TRAPPED BY RAGING WATERS. [rEOM OTTR OWN CORBSSPOHMDOr.I SAN FRANCISCO. March 90. The moat tragic Btory of death and devastation yet recorded in the history of Californian flood disasters is that revealed by account? of the awful calamity following the bursting on March 13 of the tremendous reservoir, known as the St. Francis dam, which supplied the City of Los Angeles with water. The great two-mile-wide torrent released by the collapse of the dam in the dead of night surged southward to the sea on the following day, leaving in ite wake a desolate mud-covered region of death and destruction. Rescue workers moved in to the head of the Santa Clara River [valley as the waters receded, attempting to recover bodies of the two hundred reported to be drowned. Meantime, farther down in the sunny valley toward the Pacific, residents of towns still in th<s path of the flood deserted homes, ranches and business places in a hurried exodus to the foothills. The torrent was 50ft. deep at its peak. Railroad lines, telephone and telegraph wires and the Ridge Route unit of the Pacific Highway were obliterated. The collapse of the dam was believed to be due to cloudbursts in the mountains, throwing more water against the structure than it could withstand. Reports that the dam had been cracked by an earthqnake were wholly without verification. Thirty Thousand ic Peril. Approximately thirty thousand persona lived in the area already traversed by the flood. Communication was paralysed between Los Angeles and the scene of the great disaster, thirty miles away. Immediately after the initial disaster at and near the dam, word was telephoned ahead through the Santa Clara River country. .Over a hundred miles and the clear starlit night became a nightmare of sirens, clanging bells and alarms. The highways were instantly alive with automobiles and yehicles rushing west to escape the narrow course of the valley or taking the side roads to the hills. Most of those who perished were thought to have been trapped without warning. Officials declared they believed it would have been impossible for the families living under the huge dam to have escaped the terrific torrent which swept down npon them after they slept. Three unidentified dead, • man, a .woman and & child, were found on the site of a ranch and trading post, which yras completely obliterated by the waters. Flood Tears Path Through Cities. On the fringe of the" stricken region rescue squads reported a desolate picture .where peaceful homes and sleepy ranches once dotted the valley. Buildings and homes were earned away in the terrific head of water that tore a path through the cities of Fillmore, Saugus, Newhall, •Pirn, Santa Paula, Saticoy, Castiac, Oberg and Camarillo. According to reports from Ventura, on the sea coast, the Santa Clara River became a raging torrent 60ft. deep and two miles wide. (Wrecked homes, animals and debris were carried along with the flood. Shortly before the flood reached Santa Paula it was reported that the residents wero fleeing to the hilla, having been warned by fire sirens. Many, it wan believed, started too lata to reach high ground. San Fernando Valley, one of Southern California's garden spots, was saved from the flood by a mountain ridge, the water being diverted down the Santa Clara River and Santa Paula canyon. The famous ridge route leading north to ißakersfield was completely blocked and tall highways north and aouth of the area have been wiped out. At the Edison company camp below Ifche dam, 50 men were employed, and probably sleeping, when the water came down. A half-mile further down at a power bureau sub-station, 125 men were employed. "I talked to old residents of the district," Captain Newstefete of the San Fernando police division said, "and they believe that escape from the waters was impossible. In some places thera must have been a 70ft. wall of water--"Floe tor your Lives.'i Awakened from their sleep by the scream of police car sirens, resident* of the Santa Clara River Valley were warned to "take to the hills" early in the morning before the onrushing waters. "The dam has broken; flee for yonr lives," officers called as sleepy heads poked from windows. With the realisation of impending danger an unending stream of families started into the hills. Every means of conveyance was called into nse and truckloads of families were hatded into the hills, literally dumped out and the drivers rushed back for more. Many families too slow to realise the danger were caught like rats and .went down beneath a 50ft. wave. Southern California, Edison's camp on the Ventura-Los Angeles county line, possibly was the worst hit, no warning being given to the isolated workmen, more than 170 in number. The tide caught the big camp and carried men, tents, wreckage and more than 50 cars, before it. Forty of the men are known to have escaped, but the rest are missing. Many bodies were seen hanging in trees in the water. Searching parties of Legionnaires were quickly organised and were rapidly uncovering from the shore wreckage body after body. , Valuable Fruit Area Swept. The devastated area is one of the wealthiest in Southern California, being the centre of a fertile orchard country and rich in oil deposits. The Fillmore Citrus Fruit Association is one of the largest units of the great co-operative marketing organisations of the Los Angeles region. Santa Paula is tbe location of the biggest lemon ranch in the world, with over 1800 acres under cultivation. Santa Paula has always had a live interest in oil, and since 1916 active development has been carried on, the ilJnion Oil Company having some of its largest plants there. The Santa Clara River has its source in the Soledad Canyon in the north central part of Los Angeles County. The general course of the river is westward and it enters the Pacific Ocean about three miles south-east of Ventura. Along the lower 40 miles of its route the course broad and sandy, but closer to its ionwe the water tumbles wildly through precipitous canyons*