A NIGHT OF TERROR

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8681, 14 March 1914, Page 13

A NIGHT OF TERROR

PEOPLE IN PANIC

ST. PETERSBURG*"THREATENED BY HEAVY FLOODS. ST. PETERSBURG, January 27. For over ten years no such fears of a general flooding of St. Petersburg have been felt as were caused in the [early hours of this morning. It was a question of only six inches. The Nova 'had risen Of feet, and it required only another six inches for the Neva to pour over the city. A north-westerly gale developed at 6 o’clock yesterday evening, and at midnight tho river was 4i feet above the normal. The ice broke up and the lower quarters of tho town were flooded. Guns were fired from the fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul throughout the night, and green lights were displayed -on the tower of the Admiralty and at the fire stations to indicate '“Extreme danger.” The woodeii Palace Bridge adjoining •the Winter Palace was seriously affected , and traffic on it and on many otnor bridges was partially stopped. /The authorities took various precautions in expectation of the worst. The river police were called oift and sailors requisitioned, while tho doctors in the district round tho harbour .were on the alert all night. The gas lamps in several streets were extinguished by the gale, and in all directions shop signs wore wrenched from the houses and whirled away. Pedestrians were knocked down, roofs torn off, railway waggons derailed, and the wind even started church bells ringing. , The inhabitants in the low-lying districts hastily took their belongings up' to the attics, and in some cases on to tho roof. Barges have been waahed up on to the banks of tho Neva.