THE FLORIDA DISASTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19903, 24 September 1926, Page 8

THE FLORIDA DISASTER.

While, as many a record tells, a hurricane in the West Indies represents a terrifying experience, it is not often, fortunately, that a prosperous and populous portion of the American continent incurs the brunt of such destructive forces as those that were let loose upon Florida during the past week. Each additional account which has come to hand has added to the tale of havoc. Accurate estimates of the loss of life, of the number of the injured, and of the damage done to property cannot yet be expected, but the toll in all directions has been appallingly heavy. The hurricane, irresistible in its own might, had flood waters for its ally, and these joint forces paid scant respect to the works of man. The plight of thousands of people, driven from their wrecked homes, lacking the necessaries of existence, exposed to recurrent dangers and knowing not where to look for safety, has been most harrowing. The Florida visitation, seen in its true dimensions is now recognised the Americans as constituting a national disaster and is mentioned in association with some of the worst catastrophes from which their suffered. The calamity falls the more heavily, in a sense, upon Florida because that hitherto backward State —by virtue of its climate the resort to which wealthy Americans have been wont to fly to escape the rigorous winters of the north h, ls latterly been the scene of extraordinary activity in the inception of developmental works of various descriptions. The rush to Florida which set in last year, and its accompanying manifestations, wore described in terras of enthusiasm. The State became a hunt-ing-ground for the speculator and the investor. Accounts reached us of the accomplishment of miracles in the way

of engineering feats, the diversion of rivers, the conversion of swamps, and the creation of cities with splendid modern buildings, and all this was regarded as marking but the beginning of the era of prosperity that was in store. The Florida boom was overdone. But surely a State with fair prospects and moving rapidly ahead never incurred a heavier and more unexpected blow than that which has fallen upon Florida. The swiftness with which the forces of Nature have blotted out the creations of human skill, erected at tremendous cost, leaves the imagination almost bankrupt. From the present ruin Florida will doubtless emerge again to a prosperous future, but in the meantime the State must have suffered a terrible set-back. There can only be admiration for the promptitude with which the authorities of the United States have grappled with the problem of instituting comprehensive measures for the relief of the people in the devastated areas.