Crawford avalanche., 1900-04-12
DAM CARRIED AWAY.
Flood In Colorado River Deals Death
and Ruin Forty-eight Persons Are
Drowned and ss,Ooo,O0O Worth of
Property destroyed.


The great dam across the Colorado
river at Austin, Texas, which was con-
structcd seven years ago at a cost of ST.
100000, was swept away Saturday morn
ing by an unprecedented flood in that
river. The break occurred at 1l:l0
O'clock, causing an instant rise of fully
fifty feet in the river below the dam.
This torrent OF water swept down upon
the broad valley below in all of its force,
leaving death and destruction in its wake.
Forty-eight persons are known TO have
been drowned, and the losses at that
point, including the destruction of the inn
mense electric light and power plant,
will reach -, 600, 600
Last Wednesday night it began to rain
very hard, the storm extending north
along the water sheds of the Colorado
river. The precipitation continued until
Saturday morning. All this vast quanti-
ty of water along the water sheds of the
Colorado river rapidly swelled the cur
rent, and at 3 o'clock Saturday morning
the river had risen forty feet within ten
hours. Small frame hohses, trees and
debris of every description in varying
quantities descended the river and mass
ed against the upper face of the dam.
This weight was augmented every mo-
ment until by 10 o'clock there was a
mass of debris lodged against the dam
which threatened the safety of the struc-
tur. In addition, millions of gallons of
water, muddy from its long journey, was
whring and plunging to the sixty-foot
fall, and ii was evident that no wall could
withstand the immense pressure.
The crisis came shortly after IL o'clock,
when, with n report like the roar Of the
ocean, the great wedge twenty-five feet
high, FIVE hundred feet wide and about
eight feet thick rolled out of the center
section of the dam, down the face of the
6O-foot depth into the river below. This
left yawnng gap in the very middle of
the dam through which the debris and
water fiercely poured, while the flood, al
ready raging, was threatening everything
in its path, this sudden breaking of the
dam but serving to add to the horror of
the catastrophe. The released water
poured into the power house, catching
eight employees at work there, drowning
all of them instantly.
The breaking of the dam caused wild
excitement in the city. The telegraph
companies at once wired to places below
there to look out for the great wave, and
runners were dispatched ON horses to no
tify those living in the valleys below the
city. Within a short time all the valleys
to the south and west OF Austin were fill
ed to oyerflowing with water, and the
southern portion of the city tributary to
the river was inundated. Large crowds
collected on the river banks, and several
persons were swept into the river when
the dam broke, but all were saved by
boatmen.
1t is below Austin for distance of 200
miles that the greatest havoc has been
wrought Reports received show that the
wall of water came down upon the homes
of hundreds of families without warn
ing. Almost every wagon road bridge
across the river between Austin and Co
lumbus, a distance of probably $50 miles,
was destroyed. This accumulation of
drift added to the destructive force Of
the flood, and few residences and other
buildings that were in its path are now
standing.
Many reports of loss of life have been
received by telephone and messenger
from points below Austin. A few miles
downstream there is n narrow bend in
the river, and there was situated quite
a settlement, known as Hornsby's Bend.
The flood struck that place in all its un-
restrained fury and destroyed several
houses. Thomas Kelsey, q farm hand,
and Joe Burns, ISgro, were drowned.
The brick walls of the municipal water
works. electric light and power plant just
below the dam collapsed early Sunday
morning. The expensive pumping ma
chinery and dynamos fell into the river
and they will probably be a total loss.
The destroyed plant was erected by the
city at cost of $6,000,00o, exclusive Of
the dam, which cast another 81 1,OOO,OOO.
The Colorado river is not the only west
Texas stream that is on a rampage. The
Concho, the Guadalupe, the San Marcos,
the Lano, the Nueces and the Honro
rivers are out Of their banks and are
flooding hundreds of thousands of acres
of cultivated lands.