HURRICANE'S TOLL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22231, 4 October 1935, Page 8

HURRICANE'S TOLL

FLORIDA COAST SWEPT OVER 200 KILLED TERRIBLE ORDEAL ON LINER The total casualties resulting from the tropical hurricane in the Florida Keys which occurred on September 2 is reported to be 256 dead and 252 injured in an "official count" by tho Ued Cross which was made because * controversy developed over failure before the storm to evacuate tho hundreds cf World War veterans, among whom wore most of the victims. The report said 200 of the dead were vetorans and that 25 por cent of .tho injured were hurt seriously. This report was issued while weary relief workers carried on their difficult search for the dead. A suggestion had been made that cremation in funeral pyres might bo resorted to in disposal of the bodies. Tho veterans were engaged in a road-building scheme ic the Koys. Describing the plight of tho workers o> man who visited tho stricken area said: —"On Windly Island they were caught in the bunkhouses, which were as so much stacked wood when the wind struct with terrific forco. _ I saw a big, powerful man, sitting upright on the road. He wore a blue demm jacket and overalls, rtothing else. Beside him sat a little boy of about five, his hand wrapped in a great bandage, his shirt ripped open. Tho man sat staring into space. 'What is your name?' I asked. Ho lifted his head and stared at me. 'Don't you remember your name?'.l asked, trying to help him. Still he stared vacantly at me, 6aying nothing. Workers Lose Families "I walked away. Soon two other men came up to him. One, I knew, had been searching for his family. They began talking. 'I lost five—four of my babies and my wife,' said the man who had refused to talk to me. 'All mine are gone,' replied the searcher." In a series of rescues marked by gallantry and maritime efficiency, all of the 231 passengers and most, of the crew of the grounded and shattered Morgan liner Dixie were safely brought to shore after three harrowing days in hurricane-lashed waters off the Keys. Aboard the Dixie, which was hurled on to French Reef by the howling storm, there remained only Captain E. W. Sundstrom and a skeleton crew. Two Coast Guard cutters stood by the disabled vessel as a precautionary measure, , Mountainous Seas The captain said he was unable to see because of terrific rains, and was blown out of his position to such a degree that he believed himself on Carysfort Reef when he sent out his S.O.S.—a call for help which was unheard because his radio antenna was carried away. "I had not seen a light since we picked up and passed Sombrero Lighthouse." he said. '.'The waves were breaking over the bridge, which is 55ft.' above the waterline. At times I could not see a foot ahead. I have been in hurricanes before, in 1915, 1919, 1926 and 1932, but never in one as bad as this." -"