The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1874-05-09
THE FLOODS.
Circumstans al Account of the Extent of
the Damage In louisiana
From the New Orleans Picayune.

| CircumstRne al Account of the Extent O
the Damage In Louisiana.
From the New Orleans Picayune.
Now that the great food may be con
sidered as having done its worst, anC
the occurrence of new crevasses regar
| ded as improbable, it becomes interest
| ing to take a glance at the nature anC
extent of the damage and to form sucl
estimates as may be possible of the con
| sequences. Engineers calculate the
| quantity of water thrown out on the
| state by crevasses to be less than one
| half the amount during the great over
| flow in 1867, when the break In the
Grand levee took place; yet the damage
| to the crops of the state will be fully
equal to that sustained in 1867, because
of the bad condition of the Atchafalays
and its levees. Bat as the records O
the flood of 1867 are very imperfect ant
do not show the velocity of the water a
the crevasses, this estimate is quite un
certain. ~, 81 E.sisis ~ icy s a,,9
I MorganZa ievees, and at other places
which throw their waters into the Atch
| afalaya, pass about 300, 600 cubic feet oi
water per second, and the average We
locity of the crevasses is about sever
feet per second, equal to four and two
third miles an hour.
The break at Morganza levee in 1867
was 5000 feet wide and six feet deep,
with a velocity of eight feet pei second,
equal to a current of four and half
miles an hour.
The break at Morganza at present is
1000 feet wide, 6 feet deep, and the We
locity is 81 feet per second, equal to a
current of 81 miles an hour.
40 II,oTxar-
1, 800 feet wide, and has a velocity of Ia
feet per second, which is equal to q cur
rent of 81 miles an hour.
From some of these crevasses the rich
districts of Lafourche, Terrebonne and
Attakapas, the largest, most fruitful
and most E9pulous rice and sugar re-
gions of louisiana, are overfowed.
Though lying far distant from the river,
they are subject to its misfortunes, and
thousands upon thousands of acres are
now being slowly but surely submerged
by the waters flowing through the
Hickory and MorganZA breaks.
We have already sho vn that the en-
tire Ouachita Valley is under water. 1t
would be difficult now to estimate the
number of acres covered, but it is
known that the whole population is
drowned out, and that from one end of
valley to the other the citizens are liv-
ing on RATS and the topsof their houses.
This extract of letter just received
from Monroe gives further confirmation
of the gloomy story: Everything at a
stand-still up here. Pargoud's upper
and lower levee broken. Monroe sur
rounded by sea of water can go no.
where except in boats. Trenton entirely
under. The river higher than ever
known. Twelve inches above the high
water mark of 1928"
In the imperfect information before
us with regard to the number of planta-
tions destroyed and injured by the flood
we cannot give an exact statement, yet,
after careful examination of all the re-
ports on the subject, and referring to
Mr.. Bouchereau's sugar book and the
map of Louisiana, we submit the fol-
lowing as an approximation
Our information from Concordia par
ish shows considerable loss. The par
ish of Avoyelles and a small part of
Rapides as high as Cheneyville, have
suffered from the oyerfioy Of Red river
and the Glasscock crevasse ON the Mis-
sisippi. These parishes are chiefly cQts
ton districts, yet there are many Ian
sugar plantations which are hurt.
cultivation last year forty-two
plantations. Two-thirds of them being
situated fronting on the Mississippi,
the damage will not be so great ; still
we may estimate the partial damage to
one-third and ruin to one-ffth.
AS we are now taking an account of
the sugar plantations, we come next in
to the parish of West Baton Rogue.
In this parish we estimate, of the thir-
ty-fve or forty sugar plantations in cul-
tivation, one-half the number under wa
ter and one-fourth badly or slightly
damaged.
East Baton Rogue has been damaged
by the McCullen crevasse, which IS
about three miles below the town of
Baton Rouge In this parish about
thirty sugar plantations are reported
badly damaged-the greatest part of
them more than half submerged.
All the east bank of the Bayou Teche,
in the parishes of st. Landry, st. Mar
o, Iberia, st. Marys and all the coun-
try situated on Grand lake and Lake
Verret comprising the most productive
regions of the state, are overfiowed.
The number of sugar plantations in cul-
tivation, damaged in this region, cannot
be readily estimated, but may be set
down at one-fourth of those in cultiva-
tion-the number in cultivation being
over three hundred. The water In this
region is TSsing six inches day.
Assumption will also suffer severely;
the crevasse waters are rising rapidly,
and if the overflow extends to the Bayou
Lafourche the damage to sugar planta-
tions will be immense.
The foregoing remarks are confined
to the State of Louisiana and to the SUI
gar interests of the state; but the cot
ton and rice planting interests have to
be considered also.
If we undertook to examine the cot
tan interests, it would be necessary to
begin the examination of the overfowed
country from above Memphis, and all
the tributaries of the Mississippi in the
southern country.
The sugar crop of Louisiana will
probably be cut short one-third by the
floods, and the cotton will no doubt be
lessened 300, 900 bales by the floods and
rains up to the present date. By the
time the waters subside and the ground
becomes dry enough to plant cotton, it
will be too late to make crop with any
prospect of success.
This is a gloomy picture, but it is
true one. We are appealing to the
country for succor under misfortunes
which we ourselves are powerless to
meet. It is we'll that the country should
know to what extremities we have been
reduced
Steamboat in a Tornado