GREAT ALABAMA FLOOD

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 615, 18 March 1929, Page 9

GREAT ALABAMA FLOOD

THOUSANDS AFFECTED I CONDITIONS MORE DESPERATE; (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) NEW YORK, Saturday. Unprecedented torrents raged to- j ward the sea between the two watersheds In Alabama to-night. These proved a handicap to the relief agencies which have concentrated their efforts on aiding about 20,000 persons who are affected by the flood waters. Clear weather, however, was an aid to the rescue workers who have helped thousands of people to reach high ground in the last few hours. A heavy | death roll is feared and the property loss, in the form of buildings, household goods and livestock is so great that no estimates can be made. The greatest emergency appears to exist in the neighbourhood of Elba and Geneva, but many other towns in the same valley are also flooded and in great need of food and medical supplies. From Elba it is reported that there is a depth of 25 feet of water in the main streets. The town has been partially evacuated, as also has Geneva. OUTBREAK OF MEASLES Returning aviators and journalists say desperate conditions exist in those two towns., The sanitary conditions are dangerous and there is an outbreak of measles among the refugee children. The town of Brewton was inundated by two flood waves. Martial law has been declared, and the residents are now depending upon food set by airplanes. At Caryville, Florida, flood in the valley of the Clioctawhatchee River has led to bad conditions. Two hundred people were rescued by men in motor-boats.