River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-07-10
STORM SWEPT.
Iowa and Western New York Suffer
Great Damage from Wind
and Rain.

Buffalo, n. Y, July IA terrific
rain and windstorm swept over west
ern New York at an early hour Sun
day. Rivers and creeks rose rapidly,
overlooking their banks and sweep
ing away houses and barns and live
stock. The loss will reach into hun
dreds of thousands of dollars. Tele-
graph and telephone wires are down,
and communication with small towns
in Wyoming, Niagara and Cattarau-
gus counties is difficult to establish.
This city was not in the path of the
storm.
A dispatch from Arcade says the
flood at that place claimed one VIC
tim and did many thousand dollars
damage to property. Minnie Loper,
who kept a bakery on the bank OF
the creek, was drowned early in the
day. The downpour and the cloud
burst above the village turned the
creek into a torrent. The water
rose very rapidly, and was several
feet deep on the lowlands before any
one realized the danger. Miss
Lopper's bake shop was swept out
into the street, but it had not gone
far before it fell apart. Miss Loper's
body was recovered.
There were many narrow escapes.
At Yorkshire, two miles below Ar
cade, the approaches to the bridge
were washed away, but the bridge is
standing. Miles of Roadway are SO
quilted or buried in debris that they
will have to be rebuilt. At San
dusly, few miles from Arcade, it is
reported that two houses were
washed away. From everywhere
come reports of live stock killed.
The loss to individuals will be very
high, and the loss to the town from
the destruction of bridges and road
beds will also be high.
At Portage the river is a torrent
a mile wide. At eight o'clock Sunday
morning everyone living in the lower
part of the town had to abandon
their homes. The farms are laid
waste, and no field crops can be
saved. Houses and barns were swept
down the river. The roadbed of the
PENNSYLVANIA railroad is washed out
in many places.
Elmira, n. Y, July 1.-THE great
est transforms in years visited this
valley, 1856 inches of rain falling from
eight o'clock Saturday morning to
seven o'clock Sunday evening. Sunday
afternoon a terrific hailstorm de-
stroyed many tobacco crops south of
the city, uprooted trees, overturned
tobacco barns and outhouses and ac-
complished much destruction of prop
erty.
Warsaw, n. Y, July Z. = The loss
from floods in this city will reach $780,,
600. Oatka creek, flowing through the
center of the village, burst it's bounds
and. making a channel through the
principal streets, carried devastation
in it's path, wrecking houses and
barns, many of which were swept bod
lily down stream, together with an i'm
mense amount of debris brought down
from the surrounding hills.
Council Bluffs, Ia, July z. - South
western Iowa was visited Saturday
evening by the worst storm of the
year In several towns it amounted
to a tornado and it is known that
there has been heavy loss of life.
The damage to corn and unharvested
small grains has been very great. In
some places the rain which followed
the storm amounted almost to a cloud
burst. At Rockwell City the rain fell
in binding sheets for an hour and
the whole country is under water.
Crops were beaten into the ground
and are a total loss in many cases. At
Oakland in this county, there was a
deluge of water, accompanied by a
heavy fall of hail, which did much
damage. Other places send in similar
reports of destructive storms, but in
the district principally affected com
munication is cut off.
Whiting, Ia, July IA small tor
nado Saturday evening demolished
half a dozen buildings and seriously
injured Mrs. R. w. Campbell and two
members of the family of William Bar
Der. A number of live stock were also
killed. Trees were blown down in all
directions and crops were badly dam
dgeu. Al AHlHOn. Town Oh I,OoU III
habitants, 20 buildings were entirely
demolished and it is feared loss of life
has occurred.
Wells, Mimi, July IA wind and
rainstorm passed over this section,
doing great damage. Four miles
west of town it demolished one of
the largest barns in the county, kill
ing e. r. Cook, it's owner. His wife
and son were also in the barn, and
were pnioned down by timbers and
unable to assist Mr.. Cook. A num-
Der of horses and cattle in the barn
were also killed