MISSISSIPPI FLOODS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20086, 30 April 1927, Page 11

MISSISSIPPI FLOODS

THREE HUNDRED UVES LOST. TERRIBLE DEVASTATION. PROPOSAL TO BREAK LEVEE FEARS OF BLOODSHED. (fnm AModattea—Py TVlegraph—Copyright.) NEW YORK, April 20. While it la Impossible to state definitely the toll of the floods, Mr Hoover and others declare that 800 dead have already been counted. These figures are expected to be greatly Increased. It is estimated that over 250,000 people are homeless. The damage to property will exceed 200,000,000 dollars. Additional damage is threatening many Louisiana and Mlssislppl towns. A serious emergency is feared In lower Louisiana, where hundreds of families are still marooned in the outlying district, and are practically without shelter. They have a limited amount of food and only mnddy floodwater to drink.

More seaplanes have been despatched to look ont for refugees, who are huddled together on the levees, or are stranded on the Islands dotting the wide expanse of water. What Is virtually martial law la operating in the Missisipp' C. ' ,: cr. Reports of looting by negroes made it necessary to invoke the 8 o’clock curfew. Guardsmen patrol the streets In some •f the flooded towns In boats. Everything possible is being done to prevent plagne and disease, bnt polluted water supplies, exposure, and poor food have stricken many of the homeless people. Vaccination and Inoculation, however, have so far prevented a serious spread of disease.

Refugees are con tinning to poor Into Vicksburg, and once there they are not permitted to leave the camps without the permission of State authorities. Many of the Inhabitants axe leaving the Acadia district of Louisiana, which is doomed to be flooded when the levee Is dynamited to-morrow, but a considerable somber are refusing to leave. Bloodshed is still feared.—A. and N.Z. Cable.