The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-05-31
GREAT FLOODS RAGE
MANY LIVES AND MILLIONS IN
PROPERTY LOST.
$4,000 PERSONS HOMELESS.
THE VOLUME OF THE WATER Is
UNPRECEDENTED.

brasISa and Iowa Suffer Terribly
From the Continuous Rains-Grent
Rivers Have Risen and Are Far
Beyond Their Banks - Bridges
Have Been Swept Away and RaiI-
why Traffic Has Been Rendered
Impossible.
Kansas City, Mo, May S0.-Unpre-
cedented floods are raging in Central
and Eastern Kansas. Northwestern
Missouri Eastern Nebraska and
Southwestern Iowa. the result of ten
days of almost continuous rainfall
The general situation is considered
most grave, with no immediate relief in
sight. Many lives have been lost, and
it is estimated that no less than $4,000
persons have been driven from their
homes. many of which were washed
away. and that the property loss will
run well up into the millions of dol
lars.
The greatest damage has been oc-
| casioned between Kansas City and
Ellsworth, Kan. 100 miles west. The
chief sufferer is North Topeka, which
has been separated from the main part
of the city and become an island
At Kansas City, Kan, and in the
suburban towns of Armourdale and
Argentine and at Harlem and Sheffield,
! Mo, near Kansas City. Mo, an aggre-
gate of 10000 persons have been forced
| to leave their homes. and 5000 en-
ployes Of the numerous packing houses
and railroad shops in the bottoms are
out of employment
Summary of Losses.
The situation. summarized, follows:
Homeless, Kansas-North Topeka, y
600; near Emporia 500; Salina and vi
cinity. 500; Lawrence. 500; Kansas City,
Armourdale, 10000.
decentralization and Sheffield 700
Iowa-Des Moines, 5000; Ottumwa,
! 200
Observation-Disclosures, 200; Batrice, 200
Financial Losses-Kansas, North To-
peka. 100000; Lawrence. 100000
Concordia. 100000; Abilene and vicin-
| ity, $300,O 900; Salina and vicinity, $780,
900: Solomon, Chapman, Detroit and
Woodbine and intervening country.
| 100000; Des Moines, 100000.
The already flooded condition of
Central and Eastern Kansas, which
have been in the grasp of the flood for
two days. became acute last night by
sudden rise in the streams. The riv-
ers along which the main damage was
done are the Kansas. which at many
places from it's source at Kansas City
to Manhattan. Kan. a distance of 10
miles, has spread out over miles of
land on either side of it's original bed:
the Smoky Hill river, distance of an
other 100 miles touching Junction City,
Abilene, Salina and Ellsworth, flooding
all these towns and the intervening
country; the Blue river north from
Manhattan; the Missouri river, north
and east of Kansas City and the Des
Moines river at Des Moines.
Traffic at StandstiII.
Railway traffic in Kansas is practi-
cally at a standstill. dozens of big
bridges having been washed out be-
tween Kansas City and Ellsworth. and
many miles of tracks being under
water.
Every Western road entering Kansas
City is affected. The Rock Island and
Union Pacific. between Kansas City
and Colorado. are laid out completely,
and all Santa Fe trains from the West
have been annulled at a point west of
Florence. The Rock Island has four
trains stalled at Mcfarland, one at
Wichita and one at Hutchinson, and IN
fact, trains are held up at all division
points.
One train from Topeka over the San
ia Fe reached here to-day, making
detour of 230 miles to cover the sixty
miles between the two cities
All rivers in this part of the coun-
try, the Missouri, Kansas. Smoky Hill.
Blue and smaller streams, are rising
tonight, the Kansas and the Missouri
at rapid rate, and it is apparent that
the destructive floods of 1881 will be
exceeded.
Growing Worse at Lawrence.
Flood conditions are getting worse
at Lawrence. More than 500 people in
the north part of the town are home
less. The large flour mill belonging to
Congressman j. D. Bowersoek was de-
stroyed, with a loss of $780, 900. Sew
SAdA illlcS VI IdiIOdQ lIdCh are WdSneu
out.
Communication with Salina was es-
tablished for a short time to-day by
way of Denver. A dispatch from there
says the flood conditions have improv-
ed. A big rise in the Smoky Hill river
last night caused many more to leave
their homes, and hundreds are now en-
camped on the hills east of town Most
of the business houses are closed.
Hill City has been on an island since
Tuesday. No trains have been running
there this week The town is small
and the stock of provisions is getting
very low. People are suffering greatly
The outlook in Council Grove is APP
palling. on a smaller scale the situa-
ton there is much the same as that
of North Topeka. Nine or more peo-
pie have been burned to death in a
fire started by Stacking lime. Reports
received to-day say there is small pros
poets of the water falling within the
next twenty-four hours.
Armourdale presents a strange pic
ture of desolation. Almost a Metro
politan city and ordinarily one OF the
busiest portions OF the Greater Kansas
city, the central business section,
where are located the packing houses,
vast manufactures and factories. Is a
great lake.
The Swift packing plant is surround
ed BY water, and can only be reached
by boats.