AMERICAN DELUGE

Southland Times, Issue 20171, 6 May 1927, Page 7

AMERICAN DELUGE

Disaster Grows BIVER FIFTY MILES WIDE THOUSANDS FLEEING BEFORE WATERS SENATORS APPEAL TO PRESIDENT (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Rec. 8.45 p.m.) New York, Maj- 4. News from New Orleans states that the Mississippi broke through two more levees in Northern Louisiana to-daj', and these will release the full force of the waters into the region already partially inundated. The river, from a point 30 miles north of the Arkansas border, has become an inland sea, at manj- points 50 miles wide. The water pours in upon nine parishes from three directions. Rail traffic is prostrated, and communication is failing rapidly. Thousands of exiles are scattering over the , countryside in a wild dash for high ground, i and approximatelj- 5,000 square miles of I the richest agricultural land in the State is laid waste. A hundred small steamers • are cruising over the area in an endeavour ' to reach danger points and remove isolated inhabitants caught by the suddenness of the inrush of waters. The Red Cross has announced that relief subscriptions now total 0,310,000 dollars. Two more Senators have telegraphed to President Coolidge asking that a special session of Congress be called to deal with the situation. Mr La Follette stated that Congress alone is competent to provide relief funds adequate to cope with the disaster and provide proper rehabilitation. Mr El. C. Hoover and the Secretary of Labour, Mr J. J. Davis, left Washington to-night for x 'icksburg. It is believed that the culmination of the flood when the crest reaches the immediate vicinity of New Orleans and the low-lying delta region, will probably mark the high point of damage, necessitating the widest efforts for relief.—A. and N.Z. ADDITIONAL BREAKS IN LEVEES. LOUISIANA INUNDATION SPREADING. New York, May 4. A message from New Orleans states that the devastation of 4000 square miles of Louisiana by flood was completed by two additional breaks in the banks of the Mississippi, the waters of which cover fifteen thousand miles of territory in three States. Twohundred and fifty thousand people are homeless and the property loss has increased to a staggering total.—A. & N.Z.