Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1902-07-29
Death and Havoc Caused by the
Violent Storms.
FARMERS FACE RUIN.
Floods in Iowa Threaten to Inundate
Vast Farming Tracts.
mississippi over Danger Point and
Rising Fast-Many People Killed Dy
Lightning-Crops Throughout Hi
nois Are Badly Beaten Down-Wis-
consin, Indiana, Nebraska and Col
orado in Path of Tempest.

Severe storms, deadly with lightning
bolts and ruinous with torrential rains,
have wrought millions of dollars of dam
age through the Western States. Five
persons are knoSn to have been killed
! by lightning in Illinois and Iowa alone,
while many of the outlying districts ere
entirely cut off from communication and
the results of the storm in Their. caGnot
be fully tod.
Heavy storzsA, with extraordinary dapl-
age by cloudbursts, wind and ligAtDing,
were reported Friday from western and
southern Illinois, ceatral Iowa, Nebras-
ka and Colorado. IN the rivers the wat-
or has risen rapidly, and much further
damage may be done by floods. Wash
| outs. the demolition of buildings and the
destruction of crops are among the forms
of havoc wrought by the storms. At al
points from which reports have been re-
ceived the downpour of rain was excess
siye, and at some it amounted to cloud
| burst.
In Iowa especially the rains which fell
| have led to flood conditions which il is
feared will cause more damage on the up
per Mississippi than has been known in
several decades. The floods of last week
had brought the Mississippi and its trib-
utaries to their danger point and many
thousands OF acres were not yet free
from wat..r when Fridays storm occur
ring HIS rendered the danger tenfold
J grestef and indeed has made it certain
, tiis.c incalculable loss must result.
Joliet Again Flooded.
In Illinois, Joliet. which also suffered
from floods recently, is again rendered
a heavy sufferer by the rise of the Des-
PLANES river, while from all through the
State reports are received showing the
destruction which has been done to the
crops by the hail and the rain, causing
serious losses among the farmers. The
crops, many Of them just ripe for cut
ting, are beaten down to the earth, and
where the grain has been stacked the
rain has beaten in and is rotting the
stacks.
In Indiana and Wisconsin the storm
also made its appearance, but with less
force than in Iowa. The previous con-
ditions were not as bad, and it is hoped
J that the rise in the creeks and rivers
will pass by without causing very great
losses. One death by lightning, how
ever, is reported in Indiana.
| Nebraska and Colorado did not escape
the deluge of rain which prevailed Fri
day. From two to FIVE inches is reported
| in many towns in these two Stakes. and,
perhaps the only welcome result of the
floods, the water famine in Denver, which
for time threatened to cripple the in
dustries of the city, is relieved.
While the West was thus suffering
from storms, intolerable weather condi-
| tons elsewhere were caused by the ex-
IRENE heat Several prostrations were
reported in Maryland and Ohio.
/ Loss May Be Millions.
Heavy rains in central Iowa are send
| ing a flood down upon prosperous Mis-
souri, farmers which will ruin many of
them and cause losses aggregating, at a
conservative estimate, $2,500,000. Dis
| patches from Keokuk state that there
seems to be no hope for the country be-
tween the Mississippi river and its Mis-
souri, bluffs between Keokuk and Han
| nibal. 300 square miles, mostly corn laid
by, with some thousands of acres of
| wheat in the shock. The water had
touched the danger line the first of the
week and had begun to recede when
heavy floods started again in the Des
Moines, Skunk and Iowa rivers. With q
stage in the Des Moines river only three
feet below the tops Of the great leyees,
the river began to rise three inches an
| hour at its mouth Friday, continuing TN
til tn factor of safety was wiped out.
The corn crop is all made and wheat
is in the shock, entailing a total loss Of
the years work Crops were never
finer and the yield promised TO be inn
mense. Grain men say the above esti-
mate of value is too low and put the.
/ figures OF the loss from the overflow at
nearer $4,0O0,O00 between Keokuk End
Hannibal. 1t is believed the Illinois
levees will hold and the damage is likely
to be only $4,000 TO $4,000 between
Keokuk and Quincy. Lowland farmers,
| river men and the weather bureau OBJ
server alike predict the greatest damage
ever known from floods on the upper Mis-
sissippi.
Reports showed half the country for a
distance of thirty miles between La
grange and Hannibal already under wat
err. long before the crest OF the flood ar
| rived. Points up the Des Moines river
reported water flowing through the
towns.
i Near Des Moines upward of two inches
of rain fell in many localities, and near
Eddyville it amountei to a cloudburst,
nearly FIVE inches heing reported. The
Des Moines river is rising rapidly.
Near Millstadt, st Clair County, H.,
Fred Weickbrod, 80 Years old, and son
and daughter of Jacob p Muskopf, aged
II and 10 years respectively, were struck
/ by lightning and instantly killed. The
same stroke killed two horses hitched TO
a wagon in which they were riding.
4 severe electrical storm passed
through the eastern part of Tip2ecanoe
| County, Indiana, doing great damage TO
growing crops. Harvey Reeser's gran
airy was struck by lightning and 500
bushels Of new wheat burned. Oats and
corn were beaten into the ground by the
| downpour Of rain.
Cioudburst in West.
Reports from Omaha state that the
cloudburst at PlattSmouth, Neb., proved
more serious than at first reported. A
river OF water four feet deep washed
down the main street OF the town, TAX
ing with it everything movable. Half
/ a dozen frame buildings collapsed. the
electric light plant was rendered use
less. and every cellar in the place was
filed. Several stocks Of merchandise
were seriously damaged. The total dam
age is now estimated at $4,000.
A. Lincoln. Neb., the rainfall Of near-
| II three inches caused another food in
the bottom lands in the west part Of the
| city.
There was = three-fcot rise In Salt
and Oak creeks during Friday afternoon.
and the frss hoors OF number OF houses
are under water. AL Of eastern and Gen.
tral Nebraska received a dowupour, *
precipitation ranging from an inch and
half to FIVE inches.
In Colorado heavy rainstorm at Di-