Kootenai County Republican. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1899-1903, 1901-09-06
FLOODS At CLEVELAND, OHIO
NUMBER LIVES WERE LOST
Property Worth millions of Dollars Des
troyed by Water Dams Broke end
Houses Wrecked Trains Delayed
All Rosds- Str. ct Cars StopPsd-Cem.
etsry Gave mp the Dead.

Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. "A rainstorm
has wrought havoc all over tine city
over. Many lives were in peril and only
heroic work prevented great loss OF life
The fall Of rain vas tho heaviest III the
citys history. Trains were delayed by
washouts and street car traffic on many
lines is at a stsndstiii. The river Is a
raging torrent. The property loss Is est
mated at over 81 100000.
With the breaking Of dawn the cit;.
zens of Cleveland awoke to look upon a
scene OF devastation and destruction
caused by raging flood. While the en-
tire city was more or less affected, the
great volume OF raging water vented lis
anger on miles Of the eastern portion
OF the city and caused an amount OF dam
age estimated at over $l,OD.0O.
The overflow vas caused by heavy
rain that commenced to fail shortly after
2 O'Clock, turning into perfect cloud
burst between the hours Of and and
then continued with great force until
nearly 10 o'clock. The storm, according
to the weather officials, was the heaviest
that mas swept over Cleveland since the
establishment of the government bureau
in this city over Az years ago. There Was
no loss oil life. The waters spread over
an area III the eastern part OF the city
nearly eight miles long and a mile anu a
half wide. This extended from Wood
land Hill avenue to East Cleveland and
back to East Madison avenue.
i Great volumes Of water poured over
| from Doane ard Giddings brooks down
Quincy street, sWamped Vienna street,
rushed like mllrace down Lincoln
avenue To Enclid avenue and then on to
Glen Park place, where houses we're un'
dermned as though built Of straw, and
large damage done to streets and prop
erty.
| over a large share Of this exclusive res
idence territory the water rushed vita
| terrific force varying in depth from one
to three feet. Trestles and bridges were
torn down and for hours nothing seemed
ca pa BILE of stemming the tide.
Hundreds OF residents we're imprisoned
| in their beautiful homes like stranded ISL
anders and were almost panic stricken,
expecting to be called upon to wade into
the swirling waters almost any minute.
/ Danger signals were flashed about the city
as speedily as the disabled telephone sys'
TEN would allow and the work Of rescue
commenced. Rowboats proceeded buck
and forth rescuing whole families from
perilous positions, but these proved in.
1 n nd
sary to 60 to the extraordinary precaution
| OF calling on the life saving crew from
the river, a distance OF seven miles.
The life boats were quickly loaded on
wagons and hurried to the scene Of de-
| struction.
The torrent surged with great force for
hours in Deering street, from Paramount
to Boulevard, and over dozen families
we're penned in with water five and six
feet deep surrounding their homes. At tins
point the life saving crew worked valiant.
ly, and, assisted by squads OF fremen
and policemen, finally succeeded in land
ing the terror stricken people in places
of safety. The fear was greatly enhanced
by the momentary expectation that tn.
great Shaker Heights dam would break
loose.
shortly before noon the torrent under.
mined score Of graves in the st. Joseph
cemetery at the corner OF East Madison
and Woodland and the bodies were soon
being tossed about in the waters. Fully
a dozen Of the corpses we're washed into
gu,ters and had not been recovered late
tonight. The flood went over the banks
OF the Doane brook along the boulevard
and caused damage that it will take
months to repair. Great Jagged holes are
torn in the beautiful driveway.
Gordon and Wade parks on the East
Side and Brookside park on the South
Side, where the water also did great dam
age as it leaped over the banks Of Big
creek, sustained 100000 damage.
Through Chenille the overflow was very
J destructive. Many houses are swampei,
culverts torn out and several streets
turned into quagmires. The loss here Is
also estimated at 100000. The street rail
ways will suffer heavy loss, extending in
varying directions over every portion OF
the city. The big consolidated will have 10
rebuild the tracks over different parts of
the inundated districts and the loss is
placed at $4,000.
The Superior street tre-tle Of the little
consolidated is practically ruined, and
this, with other serious damages on the
lines of the company extending over on
the West Side, will run their loss away
up into the thousands.
/
Fixes Defeated walthoap.