MISSISSIPPI FLOODS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20089, 4 May 1927, Page 9

MISSISSIPPI FLOODS

RESCUE CAMPS CROWDED. FIVE HUNDRED PEOPLE DROWNED., HALF-A-MILLION HOMELESS. (Prea» Association—By Telegraph—Copyright.) NEW YORK, May 2. With new breaks on the west BSnk of the Mississippi, 3000 more miles are expected to be inundated, and 200,000 persons will be added to the 300,000 who are already homeless. The problem of caring for the latest refugees is causing the greayest concern, because the established camps are already crowded.

It is impossible to obtain accurate estimates of the total of the dead since the Hood began, but it is reliably reported that the bodies recovered number nearly 400, while there is a considerably larger number missing. The Red Cross has now formally appealed to the public to double the relief fund, making its request 10,000,000 dollars instead of 6,000,000 dollars, which was first asked, the former sum being proved to be inadequate. This decision followed a conversation with Mr Coolidge and Mr Hoover.—A. and N.Z. Gable. ANXIETY IN NEW ORLEANS. RIVER RISES 20 FEET. DEVASTATION ON WEST BANK. NEW YORK, May 2. The flood situation at New Orleans is generally believed to be more serious than is commonly understood. This is due to the tendency to minimise the city’s danger for the purpose of sparing the feelings of the inhabitants who resent the suggestion that a calamity is impending. Nevertheless acute anxiety exists. The facts are that the levees are practically full to the banks, ddLpite the blasting, which only lowered the water very slightly. The present height of the river is approximately a little over 20ft. Meanwhile the water is 3ft above flood level at a point between 150 and 200 miles north of New Orleans. This water, it is estimated, will take about 10 days to reach the city, so that it can be seen that, there is danger that one of the greatest cities of the United States will be flooded, which would be an overwhelming calamity. This is the present situation as nearly aa ajiyone can estimate. It does not necessarily mean that New Orleans is doomed to be flooded, because artificial breaks may yet lower the water by the necessary margin, or other circumstances may avert the danger; but it is at present premature to declare that the city is saved, and the state of the water is being watched with the greatest anxiety day by day. •Meanwhile, with new breaks on the west bank of the Mississippi, near, the Arkansas-Louisiana border, the devastation there is expected to be at least equal to, if it does not exceed, that in the Mississippi region.—A. and N.Z. Cable.

MORE HOPEFUL REPORTS. APPEAL FOR 10,000,000 DOLLARS FOR RELIEF. NEW ORLEANS, May 2. (Received May 3, at 7.45 p.m.) The spreading floods in the northern parishes of Louisiana have rendered thousands homeless. On Monday evening some improvement was reported in the conditions in Southeastern Arkansas, and the Mississippi relief workers are now turning their attention to questions of sanitation and rehabilitation. The Red_ Cross at Washington has appealed to the country to provide another 10,000,000 dollars for relief work.—A. and N.Z. Cable.