Birmingham state herald., 1897-04-29

unusually heavy rains and damaging floods. A fierce storm Saturday tore out sewers and moved small buildings. Sat Cr51y at midnight hurricane, Blowing ferty-six miles an hour, drove blinding sheets of water through the roofs of the poorly or already damaged houses. Peo- pie were driven in terror to their storm cellars for their lives and spent the night in nome ntaTy expectation of being borne away by storm or floods.
 Sunday dawned bright and clear, but yesterday noon another deluge deseend- ed. By o'clock the rainfall amounted to over five inches. A huge black cloud was observed moving toward the city from the west. The cry, "get under ground" arose, on all aides, and the streets were soon filled with running, shouting people seeking cave or cellar. Stores and homes were deserted and the people huddled together awaiting the blew. The certer of the storm passed over the southeastern corner of the town. striking the hills across the valley, wrecking all it touchs1. With the tornado came the heaviest fall of water ever recorded here in a like period over two inches falling in thirty minutes All the day the riv5r had been rising at a frightful rate, reaching the ra5froad bridge and nov ing it out Of line. The wagon bridge went out when the water raached it's floor and the bridge drift serving as an obstruction, forced the water out of the
 
 houses and drowning stock A Jam on the EHson ranch gave way and carried out the bridgr1 on the Fc-'t Reno road and swept the fair grounds clean and flooded the yards of the Chc9taw railway, rising into the houses in the bottoms, it com- pe1led farmers to desert their homes. A party composed of A. E. Woodcliff, Peter Carr, Henry Schaeffer, Charles Justin, James Tompl0ins, Rev. Father Hall and otb-rs immediately set to work rescufng the unfcrtunates
 In the home cf Tlh0nsa Palmer the lat ter'S wife and several children were res cued from the tops of bureaus just as the water was creeping up To their fee:. It was with difficulty they were removed to the improvised rafts of the rsscuars and taken to dry land. The families of Mrs. Hall, Tom Pot CT, Gel. Sevsry and Mrs. Blank were rescued from their homes in a similar manner. Tn each i'm stance the water had swept through the windows ard was gradually rising. Dur ing the trip a raft of railroad ties went to pieces on a submerged wire fence and the en ire party was pracipita ted into the water. They v-7re all saved. A little e. Id of Frank hdIlman fell into a washed ' t crossing and was drowned.
 M. A. Bfckford, a milkman, nearly lost his life in tryirlg to save the little one. The ice plane was flooded, and Harry Bradford, the manager, narrowly es- caped drowning.
 Lightning struck the spire eff the Prss- byterisn church ard totally wrecked it. The school house for colored children was struck at o'clock in ths, afternoon, the structure shattered and about fifty pupils more or less injured.
 Among the mers badly injured are:
 Eva Clauston, Bertha Turner. Charles Water and Beufah Clauston. The lat ter was paralyzed- Several other houses were struck by lightring. but no one was killed. Further we;it the lightning kilisd much stock. , The electric light wires went deIIn and the town was in darkness hast night. Reports from surrounding towns are meagre, as telegraph wires are down ard trains have all been stop ped on account Of washouts. It Is known, however, that mary homes have been washed out in towns adjacent to Fl Reno, and 1t is feared many lives have been lost. West of hera Frank Thompson and The 14-year-old son of Hiram Griffin were drowned