VERY GRAVE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19828, 30 April 1927, Page 7

VERY GRAVE

MISSISSIPPI FLOODS Death Roll of Three Hundred to Date MANY THOUSANDS HOMELESS FIGHT TO PREVENT DISEASE [By Telegraph—Per Press Assn.—Copyright.] (A. & N.Z.) NEWYORK, April 28. While it is impossible to state definitely the toll of the floods, Mr Hoover and others declare that 300 dead have already been counted, and this figure is expected to be greatly increased. It is estimated that over 250,000 people are homeless and the property damage will exceed 2,000,000 dollars. Additional damage is threatening many Louisiana and Mississippi towns. A serious emergency is feared, in Lower Louisiana. Hundreds of families are still marooned in the outlying districts practically unsheltered, with, limited, food and Duly muddy water to drink. More seaplanes have been despatched to scout for refugees huddled together on the levees or stranded on islands dotting the wide expanse of water. Virtual martial law is effective in the Mississippi district. Reports of looting by negroes made it necessary to invoke an eight o ’clock curfew. Guardsmen patrol the streets in some of the flooded towns in boats. Everything possible is being done to prevent plague and disease, but polluted water supplies, exposure, and poor food have stricKen many of the homeless. Vaccination and inocculation, however, have so far prevented a serious spread. Refugees arc continuing to pour into Vicksburg, and. once there none is permitted to leave the camps without the permission of the State authorities. Many inhabitants are leaving the Acadia district (Louisiana), which is doomed to be flooded when the levee is dynamited to-morrow, but a considerable number refuse to leave. Bloodshed is feared.