The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-04-10
A HUGE DAM C0LLAPSES
TREMENDOUS FLOOD OF WATER P0URS
DOWN ON AUSTIN, TEX.
A SECOND J0HNSTOWN FLOOD
Continued Rains Flood Colorado River.
A sixty Foot Dam Above the City
Property Immense Many People
Caught I'm the Rushing Waters.
Warming Sent to the Valley Below.
Light aud Water Plant Destroyed.

Caught In the Rushing Waters.
Warming Sent to the Valley Below.
Light aud Water Plant Destroyed.
Austin, Texas. April This city is
tonight in pitch darkness, with a rag
ing river one mile wide and swollen
far beyond it's natural banks roaring
and surging in all the lower portions Of
the town, having spread destruction
and death in it's wake. In addition to
the vast loss to property interests, it
is calculaed that between thirty and
forty lives have been sacrificed, and
the reports coming in from the tribu-
tary country tonight do not tend to
improve matters. The flood is not un-
like the disastrous Johnstown flood
some years ago, in that raging river.
already swollen far beyond it's ca
pacity, bore too heavily upon an i'm
mense dam spanning the river here,
breaking it and letting loose a reser-
voir of water thirty miles long, half
mile wide and sixty feet deep to aid in
carrying destruction down the valley
The great dam in the Colorado river
gave way at noon today from the
enormous pressure of water and de-
| bris and, with roar and a crash,
swept the valley below the city,
wrecking the immense light and pow
| er plant and drowning eight workmen.
Last Wednesday night it began to
| rain very hard at this place, the storm
| extending north of here along the
watersheds of the Colorado river. The
| precipitation continued until this
morning, the downfall aggregating six
| inches All this vast quantity Of wa
| ter along the watersheds of the Col
orado river rapidly swelled the cur
! rent until at o'clock this morning,
/ the river, which had been rising stead
| lily since last evening, was a raging
| torrent, having risen forty feet within
| ten hours.
| RAPID RISE OF THE RIVER.
| After daylight this morning, it be-
| came evident that the situation was
| serious. The river began to rise so
| rapidly that it was evident that the
| immense dam and power houses and
| contents, costing 81, 500, 900, were in i'm
| mfnent danger. To add to the terror
! of the situation, small frame houses,
trees and debris of every description
in varying quantities began descend
| Ing the river and piling up against
4 the upper face of the dam. This
| weight was augmented every moment
until by 10 o'clock there was a mass
of debris lodged against the dam
| which threatened the safety of the
structure
/ THE IMMENSE DAM BREAKS.
| The crisis came shortly after II
| o'clock, when suddenly, with a report
! like the roar of the ocean, q great
wedge, twenty-five feet high, 500 fee:
| wide and about eight feet thick, roll
ed out of the center section of the dam
down the face of the SiXty-foot depth
into the river below. This left "a
| yawning gap in the very middle OF
| the dam through which the debris and
| water dercely poured while the flood
already raging, was threatening every
| thing in it's path, this sudden break
| ing of the dam but serving to add
| to the horror of thedcatastrophe.
| WARMING SENT TO THE VAL
LEYS BELOW.
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 wir-
ed to places below here to look out fol
the great wave, and runners were dis
patched ON horses to notify those liv.
ing in the valleys below the city. The
4
ly warning to many, but the rushing
waters outstripped the horsemen and
many houses were picked up and
swept away before the occupants could
get together their vakuables.
Within a short time all the valleys
to the south and west Of Austin were
filled to overf1owing with water and
the southern part of the city tributary
to the river was inundated. Large
crowds had collected on the river
banks. and several persons were swept
into the river when the dam broke
but all were saved by boatmen.
PEOPLE CAUGHT IN THE FLOOD
A crowd of white people, numbering
! about thirty, living just below in tents
| were seen at their habitations jus
| before the dam broke and have moi
been accounted for since 1t is gen
orally believed that all of them were
| swept away.
One man, attempting to cross the
| roadway leading TO the bridge across
the river just as the big wave rolled
| down, was caught and he and his
horse and buggy went down with the
| torrent and were heard OF no more.
A family of six negroes living in the
valley south of the city are known tl
have been drowned.
WATER EVERYWHERE BUT
| NONE TO DRINK
1t is estimated that more than LOG
houses have been destroyed and the
loss to property will be great, in point
Of the light and power plant costing
81, 500, ,OO0 The breaking of the dam en-
quilted the old water company's plant
below the city and it is tonight lying
fifteen feet under water, while the
city is in darkness and without water
REPORTS FROM BELOW.
Reports from points below here are
to the effect that the flood has been
most disastrous and the breaking OF
the dam has occasioned many thous'
erty.
The surface of the river throughout
the day has been dotted by small
houses or fragments of houses and
drowned animals, along with trees