MISSISSIPPI FLOODS

Otago Witness, Issue 3818, 17 May 1927, Page 28

MISSISSIPPI FLOODS

60,000 MORE PEOPLE HOMELESS. WASHINGTON, May 13.

A message from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says that as a result of the breaking of the levee at Morsauville 60,000 more people have been driven from their homes and 1,000,000 acres threatened with’inundation.

SERIOUS REFUGEE PROBLEM. - NEW YORK, May 13.

News from New Orleans states that the flood waters clipped off a great section of the Bayon des Glaises levee at Bordelonville, which is in the heart of the Big Bend area.

Engineers and relief workers declare that the crevasse is already 150 ft wide, and that the levee is gradually cracking eastward, dooming the so-called sugar bowl lands in Louisiana, where 150,000 people live. Property worth over 10,000,000 dollars lies in the path of the flood.

The pent-up waters are also streaming through a series of crevasses between the Cottonport and Bordelonville area, ranging in width from 20ft to 700 ft. Moreauville, a small town midway between Cottonport and Bordelonville, is under water.

No loss of life is expected. The women and children have left. The farmers themselves manned the levees until the mvlessness of the task became apparent. The engineers predicted that the flood would flow southward at the rate of from 15 to 20 miles a day.

Meantime a serious refugee problem in part of Louisiana is revealed. A wireless message from Jonesville states that the water there has risen 13in in the last 24 hours. Refugees were found on rafts and in small boats. A large number of women and children on flat boats were without’ food. These were rescued. A member of the Governor’s staff immediately notified the Red Cross of the urgent need of food and tents in the flooded parishes. /

STRICKEN LOUISIANA. NEW YORK, May 14

News from New Orleans states that Mississippi water surged into the countryside through the honeycombed levee along the Big Bend at a rate estimated by engineers to be well over 7,000,000 cubic feet per second. Some parishes are already under water and others are rapidly becoming part ot a huge lake, which will soon stretch from Louisiana’s northern border to the Gulf of Mexico, as a result of breaks at Bayou The evacuation of threatened sugar loaf lands is continuing. The majority of a 100,000 inhabitants have already left thenfarms ; but straggling groups are still moving along the highways towards the refugee camps. The Governor of Louisiana reports that the situation of many marooned families is serious. The river at New Orleans has shown a surprising rise of two-fifths of a foot in the past "eight hours. This is attributed by tlie Weather Bureau to the effect of wind and tides. It is now 20.6 ft. Hie prediction is that it will rise to 21ft. Apparently nothing can divert a flood between the levee breaks and the Gulf, but the crest should have passed into the Gulf within a' few days, after which, unless unexpected developments occur in the valley, the work of rehabitulation will begin. But before this happens another 1,000,000 acres of land, comprising between 40,000 and 50,000 farms are doomed. The entire territory must be evacuated, bringing the total number of persons forced from their homes in Louisiana alone to 300,00.

NEGROES’ NOAHS ARK.

A PLAN THAT FAILED. NEW YORK, May 14. Exhorted by their parson the coloured community in the lowlands near BatonRouge emulated the example of Noah. When they heard that the flood was approaching they built an ark, into w-hich they carried all their worldly belongings, chickens, dogs, cats, and mules, and then waited and prayed for the flood to ccme. The ark refused to float as water poureS in at a hundred leaks, and when the flood strained the craft was covered by two feet of water. The occupants then fled to the safety of the railway embankment.