Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-02
FLEE FROM INVADING FLOODS
Pittsbnrg Residents Take Refuge in Upper
Stories When Waters Rage.
BOATS PLY ON ALLEGHENY STREETS
Rivers Take Possession of Roadway,
Forcing Vehicles to stay at Home
and Trnmc to Float
AlOft.

llluuldIltb lOTCeu lQe OnlO river over us |
banks today, flooding hundreds Of houses
and sending the occupants to seek refuge |
in the upper stories
Mills the low lying levels throughout !
the county, numbering between fifty and !
sixty, we're flooded. and 1885 men thrown |
idle for four or fve days.
The flood was general throughout west |
ern Pennsylvania, the streams everywhere /
overlooking their banks and causing more .
or less damage to houses and farms that !
lay along their course. Downtown in Pitts |
burg cellars and Easements of business /
houses were inundated, while in Allegheny /
| two railroads were temporarily paralyzed |
People in the First and Third wards OF 4
Allegheny had to employ boats on the !
streets, skihs being commoner than wheeled |
vehicles.
Ample warning had been received by most |
Of the residents and business houses to |
minimize losses. The highest stage reached |
by the swollen rivers at Pittsburg was
294 feet at the government dam at 6 this !
evening. 1t became stationary at that |
mark and gradually subsidized. Three hours |
later the record was 291 feet. The Market |
street guage at o'clock showed the high !
est point reached by the Monongahela river
TO be 2S6 feet. In an hour after il had
fallen a little over an inch The govern
ment guage at Davis island dam, five miles
below the city, showed the highest stage
to be 265 feet at o'clock, when the waters
were stationary. From that time the flood
| began to fall
The cold weather which set in last night
served to check the food. Soon after day
light the water took possession of the
point districts in Pittsburg and came up
| almost to Penn avenue. All lower Alleg
! heny felt the severest effects of the high
water and practically every house between
Isabella street and the river from the
| Ninth street bridge to the Point have cell
| lars and first floors flooded. The Pittsburg
! g. Western railroad and the Buffalo, Roch
ester Pittsburg tracks are under water,
necessitating their abandonment tenn
porarily.
Boats Protected in Time.
River men took early precautions to
place shipping under safe control and as a
result property OF that character suffered
| comparatively little.
From the territory up the MonongahelS
and Allegheny rivers comes reports of much
damage by the flooding OF the lower floors Of
houses, mills and factories. From all points
above on both rivers the waters are re-
ported as either falling OF stationary and
danger is averted.
Towns below here on the Ohio, however,
are still to have their worst experiences.
At McKees Rocks and Corpolis, a few
miles below Pittsburg, the river tonight is
so high that the business sections of both
places are under water and several street
car lines were forced to suspend operations.
East Liverpool reports thirty feet Of
water, thirty-five houses flooded and sew
eral OF the pottery plants damaged, Of
which the Thompson Pottery company will
suffer most. q.
Street car service to Smiths Ferry has
been abandoned.
At Wellsville four miles below East
Liverpool the mill Of the American Tin
plate company is partially inundated and
scores of.famlies are suffering
Steubenville, o.. reports thirty feet OF
water and rising five inches an hour Five
more feet are expected, which will cause
the Wheeling & Lake Erie and the Cleve-
land & Pittsburg railroads and mills on the
low ground to suspend.
PARKERSBURG, W. Va, March 1.-The
Ohio river is rapidly approaching the dan
ger line and predictions are that 1t will be
in the lower streets by Monday night
Forty-one feet are expected. .t.
So far no houses have been reached by
the food but men have been busy all day
moving goods out of cellars and warehouses
in the wholesale district and moving peo-
pie in low sections out of their homes.
Many homes are flooded in the Little Ka-
r nawha valley. Today's cold snap will check
the water and the. Little Kanawha river
is already falling.
Gale DisnbIes Atlantic BOat.
t PHILADELPHIA, March THE steamer
Switzerland of the Mercantile Marine COM
pany arrived here today from Antwerp
after a voyage OF IS days, during which it
encountered terrific gales.
= On February II a severe storm struck II
from the northwest. The storm continued
several days and during it's height the
steering gear gave way. leaving the vessel
helpless for three days. The vessel sus-
e tained other minor damage.
Switzerland carried 2S1 passengers.
' wheeling Mills Submerged.
: WHEELING, W. Va, March 1.-The dan
ger point in the swell OF the Ohio has
, been reached and the river is still rising.
The stage at II was,37 feet inches and II
was rising six inches an hour with indica-
tons for a maximum stage OF Al or AZ feet.
Wheeling island a portion Of the south
side and half a dozen blocks from tho
river front 20 the hill in Bellaire are under
/ water but merchandise and household ef-
] IectS nave Deen removed IN most instances
. The iron and steel mills on both sides
OF the river have been partially submerged
and as the industrial establishments gen.
orally are iD the low-lying districts they
will be compelled to suspend operations
. Traffic on the Baltimore Ohio river roads
[ was delayed several hours. Tonight tracks
r Of the Pennsylvania. Baltimore Ohio
}. | Wheeling & Lake Erie and Cleveland, Lor-
: ain & Wheeling railroads are submerged
[ at different points and no trains are run
e ming
Evansville Also Fears.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. March 1.-The Ohio
river is stationary here tonight and at !
stood at 329. II is expected to be rising or
: Monday.
: All the side streams are still risinl
rapidly. Rough and Pond rivers are out o.
their banks and thousands of logs and tfes
were lost today. River men fear a much
worse rise than that Of few days ago a,
the headwaters are rising and the southern
q rivers are bank full. Reports tonight sal
Il the Wabash. White and Patoka rivers ar,
n high. Boats have been unable to max,
r many OF the landings between here ant
Paducah for two weeks.