A NATIONAL CALAMITY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20088, 3 May 1927, Page 9

A NATIONAL CALAMITY

WATERS- RISING SLOWLY. HUNDREDS OF LIVES IN DANGER (Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright.) NEW ORLEANS, May 1(Received May 2, at 8 p.m.) The lives of hundreds of persons who disregarded the flood warnings are endangered in six parishes of Louisiana. The Mississippi levee broke at four points on Sunday, opposite Matchez. Four persons were drowned when a rowboat overturned in the overflow waters north of Vicksburg. The crest of the flood moves slowly, but with terrible precision. Reports to-night indicate that the Vicksburg region is feeling the full force of the waters rushing through the levees and spreading down the Yazoo Valley.— A. and N.Z. Cable.

RESCUE WORK ORGANISED. WATER SPREADING INTO FOREST LANDS. NEW YORK, May 1. (Received May 2, at 8 p.m.) While rescue work is now well organised many refugees are still hovering on the levee crowns, and on the tops of houses. Some of them may not be able to hold out against hunger and exposure before relief reaches them. The water is penetrating so far inland that it has reached the forest districts, and the whole of the wooded areas arc standing under 20ft of water. The valley for the greater part has been deforested.—A. and N.Z. Cable. THE FLOODS SWEEPING ON. MANY RESIDENTS HOMELESS. NEW ORLEANS IN PERIL. NEW YORK, May 1. (Received May 2, at 8 p.m.) Mr Hoover will arrive at Washington to-morrow to consult with President Coolidge regarding further flood relief. The waters have swept over many more thousands of acres of new territory and made thousands more homeless. The artificial break in Powdra’s levee continues to widen under a steady pressure of the rising waters, but the engineers say there will be no relief for New Orleans until the crevasse is much larger than it is at present. They point out, however, that the natural breaks in the levees in Arkansas and Louisiana are far above New Orleans, and wiR do more to save the city from inundation than any artificial opening below (he city. The levees all through the Baton Rouge region are undergoing terrific strain as the water continues to rise.—A. and N.Z. Cable.