FEARFUL FLOODS.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16834, 28 June 1926, Page 7

FEARFUL FLOODS.

A' CITY OVERWHELMED-

TERRIBLE LOSS OF LIFE.

20,000 HOUSES DEMOLISHED

(Renter.)

MEXICO CITY, June 26

Floods swept the city of Leon in the State of Guanajuato from the Hiver Santiago, which overflowed at Gomctl.

The death roll is expected to reach 1000. Ifalf the city has been destroyed and 387 bodies have been rcrcovercd. Some 20,000 mud houses were demolished.

Relief workers who arc searching in the ruins state that, numerous ofthcr bodies are still buried in the mud. Many more victims are likely never tc be seen again because they were swept down stream In a raging torrent. The water now stands from seven to ten feet deep on the lower sections of the city. Entire families were buried in many places.

The loss of property is very heavy. Federal troops have been ordered to aid in the relief work. Another version of the floods says they have claimed 1300 victims. Onefourth of the population of Leon are homeless and destitute. The waters arc now receding. Torrential rains of the past fortnight caused what is one of the greatest floods in the history of the region. Unharvestcd crops were inundated and entire business blocks in Leon were swept away.

Linos of people were passing through improvised morgues in attempts to identify missing relatives. Efforts to take food and medical supplies to the area arc hampered by the crippled railway facilities. Hunger is already beginning to show its ravages.