SOUTHWARD

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19827, 29 April 1927, Page 7

SOUTHWARD

SWEEP OF THE FLOOD Mississippi Levees to be Broken to Save New Orleans OUTBREAK OF DISEASE HUGE COMPENSATION FOB FLOODED ABBA [By Telegraph—Per Press Assn.—CopyrirhL] (A. & N.Z.) NEW YORK, April 26. To save the city of New Orleans from the sweep of the unprecedented floods in the Mississippi River, the levees are to be broken, to-day, south of the city, to prevent the waters backing up. Preferring death in the flood to death •in a fire twenty-five whites and negroes were drowned when they jumped from a blazing building in a flooded village near Logand, Tennessee. A Memphis message states that preparation are being made to cut the levee on Friday to relieve the Mississippi flood conditions, as the result of which New Orleans must defray the cost, amounting to between 2,000,000 and 4,000,000 dollars, in addition to which the city must care for 3000 persons necessarily evacuated and return them to their homes after the water recedes. Desperate Conditions. Desperate Conditions are now reported in many Arkansas towns, where outbreaks of measles, whooping cough and other diseases are occurring and increasing in numbers. Fifteen boats on the Arkansas River, rescued hundreds of marooned families. Mr H. C. Hoover has now arrived at New Orleans to take charge of the relief work. A message from New Orleans states that, carrying al] movable belongings, hundreds of trappers and farmers today left their homes at St. Bernard, Plaquemines and other parishes which have been ordered to be inundated on Friday as a precaution to prevent the flooding of New Orleans, and have headed for the city. Many of the 4,000 inhabitants of the doomed 70,000 acres maintained an armed watch at the point at which the levee is to be broken, demanding guarantees against loss before quitting the posts. Helpless Refugees. The waters if admitted would cover their farms for several months, drown muskrats in numbers, and wipe out the trappers’ livelihood for years. Sudden breaks in the Arkansas River banks endangered the lives of 5000 marooned refugees. The Government engineers estimate that the previous high water marks of the Mississippi River will be exceeded by at least three feet before the crisis has passed. It is also feared that €OO,000 persons between Vicksburg and the mouth of the Red River will be trapped in tho rapidly rising water. Federal and State officials claim they are powerless to help them. The crest of the flood is not expected for two or three days. There is a serious shortage of boats for rescue work. In the meantime additional stories of death and destruction arc reported hourly. The Red Cross has received over 2,500,00 dollars for use in relief work.