Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-07-02
HOUSES BUT BUBBLES.
TREES BENT AND BROKEN LIKE
REEDS.

Destructive Floods I'm Iowa Many Miles
OF Railway Track Washed Away and
Many Families Mads Hoineless-G Gravity
or the situation Increasing Hourly
Scenes and Incidents of the Deluge.
Northwestern Iowa has been visited
by the heaviest rainfall In twenty years.
An eyewitness OF the recent floods In
the vicinity OF Cherokee, states that II
Is necessary for one to see to have the
least idea OF the great amount of dam
age done. "Why," he exclaimed, ait is
simply terribly wonderful the way that
immense body OF water swept things be-
fore it, Houses were but bubbles on
It's crest. i was at Cherokee when the
cloud-burst came, and I'm less time than
IL takes to tell II flood was upon the
town Houses were seen TO tremble,
swing half around, and then carried
along by the torrents. Trees were bent
and broken like reeds and not q thing
could stop the terrific onward rush OF
the water, and all this. occurred before
the people could possibly realize what
had happened The most remarkable
feature of the disaster is that any OF the
people In the track OF the flood escaped
with their lives. AS far as / know no
lives were lost at Cherokee and the i'm
mediate vicinity"
The storm rendered between 300 and
400 families homeless in and about
Cherokee. These are being cared for in
the Masonic, Grand Army of the Repub-
lie aud Knights of Pythias halls at
Cherokee. The Illinois Central lost
IL, 777 feet of roadbed and 9s5 feet Of
piling. This does not include the bridge
taken out over the Sioux River The
amount OF damage will reach $3.50, 900.
AS the waters recede the carcasses Of
catt are landed and to-day the stencil
from them permeatcS the air. 1t is es-
timated that hundreds of head OF stock
have been lost. Two miles OF track of
tho vain line of the Illinois Central has
repair the damage. The Unawa anu
Sioux Fall branches of the same road
are in worse way. and 1t will
be about ten days before traffic can be
resumed. Both wire connections are
still broken. The Sioux River is sub
siding. but 1t is still forty feet deep, and
covers a quarter of a mile of country.
The average depth OF the river when in
its channel is about four feet. The
work of clearing away the debris is now
in progress, and aid is Icing rendered
Iuc lt lOWIl
of MOville is still flooded and not one o!
the 200 inhabitants is able to occupy his
house, and all are camping out. There
is only $50 pounds of hour in the town.
The town is almost completely cut of
from succor. Hundreds of horses and
other live stock ont in the fields in the
valley were fearfully lacerated by the
barbed wires carried down by the swol-
len torrent, in which the beasts become
entangled.
The damage at Cherokee is estimated
at over $500, 900. The river fell about
ten feet, but was still twenty feet above
low water mark. At ordinary stage OF
water the river is only about 200 feet
wide, while IL is now ], 200 feet
The engineer of the relief train which
was the first to go from Fort Dodge To
Cherokee after the big storm, has return.
ed to this city, saws a Waterloo special.
1t took them eight hours to run from
Aurelia to Cherokee, and many times
they were compelled TO stop on account
of the rain, which came down In torrents.
From Storm Lake TO Cherokee the
country resembled one vast lake almost
as far as the eye could reach in every
direction. Only water was visible, while
debris of destroyed buildings, bodies oi
horses aud cattle and other farm animals
ascdnd, mast Cherokee In large numbers.
vented their reaching dry Tand.- d--i'-'- 80
The farmers along the line suffered
very much. One farmer living south OF
Cherokee stated that over 200 cattle are
missing from his pasture, and he expect.
all are drowned. The merchants in the
small towns have had their stores 1nder
mined, the Easements filled with water
and In many instances the water hat
come on the first floors and damagec
their goods extensively AT Cherokee
seventy-fve to one hundred houses ar,
destroyed and many of them have been
swept away. The gravel train which
was in the pit at Cherokee is buried out
of sight. the cnly portion of IL that IL
visible being the top OF the smokestack
OF the steam shovel.
Superintendent Gileas reports that the
damage to the Illinois Central track al
ready in sight will foot UP $500, 600, and
but little is yet known of the condition
of two branches from Cherokee. The
water fell about ten feet at Cherokee
and many occupants OF houses in tho
flooded district were able to regain en-
trance to-day. The ruin wrought made
many a heart sick. Where the house!
were not destroy yed their contents are al
covered with thick, black mud, running
them. Three hundred poor people IN
| Cherokee are being fed and clothed by
/ the relief committee, and a dispatSl
from there says outside aid will hnVo %
be asked.
A. w. Thesher, mail-clerk on Mil
waukee and St Paul train that wa:
water. bound, at HOrnick, thus relate:
| his experience: Between Hornick anC
| Hedges Siding the track is out in MANI
places, and so great was the force Of the
water that the rails were carried fal
from the roadbed. got hungry, as die
| all the passengers. Our rations were
rather slim, and so l made up my minC
TO come to Sioux City. put my lettei
mail in pouch together with my cloth
| ing and started to wade. l wadeC
through fully mile and half of wate
between Hornick and Hedges, and IN
many places IL was up TO my neck. A
| Hedges / caught a construction traiI
and rode into Sioux City.
"The low lands are covered with wate
| as far as you can see. Field after fielC
is submerged, and all over the flats the
water is from one TO four feet deep II
the first floors OF houses. The farmer
have moved out TO the high ground II
nearly all instances.
81 saw farmers wading in the water uI
to their waists pushing RATS, on whicl
were loaded their IA Miles and household
goods. ahead OF them TO the high land
One farmer at Hornick. whose house wa
flooded, pushed big hCg trough aheat
| of him in which his wife holding he
baby was seated He was making TO
the high ground near our train"