Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1892-05-19
BEYOND ALL CONTROL.
Raging Waters Create
Disaster at Sioux City.
HUNDRED S ARE HOMELESS.
Flood Came Without Warning and
People Fled for Their Lives.

disaster has oycrtahcn Sioux City. A
great wave came down the Fl~yd river,
which COWS through the center OF the
city and which was already swollen bank
ful. The wave came few minutes after
o'clock yesterday morning. Warning
had been sent a short time before 70 the
Inhabitants Of the lowlands, but only
few OF them had been notified. The first
intimatioa was a volume Of water spread
ing over the banks to depth Of three feet
aud throwing n mist Of foam before IL. In
few minutes the water had risen above
the first floors and several thousand people
fed in terror to the higher ground. The
water rose four feet in an hour aud half,
and frou . o'clock continued to rise
steadily, hut not SO rapidly Probably
one.third Of the inhabitants of the city
live Oh the low ground which Is over
flow ed.
So rapid Was the rise of the tide that
great numbers were unable TO escape, and
the work Of rescue engaged every energy
OF the people. Eleven persons were
drowned and there IN ust DO many others.
At 10 o'clock the fire alarm was sounded
to call out more workers. All the boats
from tbs bosthouses on the Sioux river
were brought in and are now being used
to save life and property, The Missouri
river is very high, and when the floods In
the Floyd river struck it, the water
damned up and rushed over the adjacent
low grounds The stock yards and pack
ing houses were situated at the confluence
of the TIVE rivers, and they were Instantly
inundated. About 20C0 head of live stock
were drowned there. Great numbers OF
dead stock have also been found floating
down the Floyd river.
Tho whole railroad yard and switching
track district is under water, and there
has been immense damage TO the round
houses and other railroad property. The
roundhouse OF the Chicago, st. Paul,
Minneapolis and Omaha is damaged 70 the
extent o. $4,000 That road, the Illinois
Central, ana the Sioux City aud Northern
enter the city by the Floyd valley. and all
are stop. ed. At O'Clock the water had
reached to Jenning street and Fourth
street The Hotel Fowler and the Boston
Investment compsny's building are sur
rounded with water. The Union pot
was cut or at o'clock.
IL is estimated that 5000 people have been
driven from their homes. All business is
suspended The chamber of commerce has
Organized for relief work. Before noon tho
ladies hnd several soup and lunch houses
opened for the food sufferers 1t is impos-
sible yet To estimate the loss OF property,
but IL Will be large
Death List win BE Large.
The relief conimi, tee has the names of
fifteen persons known to have been
drowned, and authentic reports of the
drowning OF three or four times that num-
Der. Only one body has been recovered 1t
is believed that the death list will not
number less than hundred. The waters
are receding, and the wind which blew
gale all day, IL quietng. The Floyd val
ley, n mile wide ia places and five miles
through the manufacturing and railroad
district Of the city and thickly dotted with
homes, is now a scene Of deSolation. There
are probably 200 families in the valley. the
majority living in small houses, and as
there was no warning the most they could
do was TO save themselves and leave their
possessions
A rescuing corps was organized by citi-
Zens and the homeless promptly cared for.
Hundreds of houses were swept away en-.
tirely. Over halfmile of paving on one
street was destroyed. All the railroad
yards machine shops, warehouses, lumber
yards. stove works, foundries, shoe fac
tories, gas works and many retail business
houses were submerged. One Of the leading
hotels is surrounded and all the depots are
inaccessible. The cable line stopped and
the elevated railroad Is the only means
left OF reaching eastern suburbs. All
packing houses are flooded ard four
bridges are carried away. Not IA railroad
train can reach the city. In the afternoon
fire in the flooded district added to the
horrors
The total loss in the city Is estimated at
g., ,000, ,000to g., ,0OO. 600.
There Is only one telegraph wire working
ont OF this city aud that runs to Omaha
This makes IL impossible to adequately
tell the story OF the flood. 1t is the worst
food ever known here. Reports from the
country indicate widesp read damage.