Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-08
MISSOURI RIVER STILL GOOD
Up to Late Hour Sunday it Was
Within Its Bsnks.
RAINS CAUSE RISE OF ONE FOOT
Big Muddy StiII Has Two Feet Before
ReRchiRg Flood stage, Though
Usual Reports of Damage
Are Heard.

While the Missouri river is somewhat on
the rampage from the heavy rains in this
vicinity and northward of Omaha, there
is nothing in the conduct of the river thus
far that is any way alarming. The usual
reports were current Sunday morning that
the river was cutting through into Flor
ence lake, Cut-Of and East Omaha, but
inquiries at those points disclosed that no
danger was apprehended. nor has any in
convenience thus far resulted from the
rising river.
The stage Of the river at o'clock Sun
day morning was 15s feet. rise of one
foot since Saturday morning, and it is
still two and two-tenths feet below the
flood stage. There was a perceptible rise
during the day, with a foot rise coming
from Sioux City.
Considerable quantities Of light drift are
coming down the river and the stream is
bankful No overflow is yet noticeable
on the Iowa side and 1t will take some
heavy rains to produce an overflow in
that section. large number of people
went down to the Douglas street bridge
to watch the river, but aside from pre-
senting a magnificent spectacle with its
tremendous volume of water, there is moth
ing unusual about it. 1t will require a
rise of over two feet before the stream
reaches the level Of the smelling works
plant.
Railroads Are Anxious.
Reports from points south of Omaha
indicate a much heavier rise and the rail-
roads are taking every precaution against
the washing out of track beds along the
river. Even in these sections the river
has not reached the danger stage
Omaha and vicinity was deluged with
another heavy rain Saturday night and
Sunday forenoon The precipitation up to
Z a. m. Sunday was 1.3l inches, with an
additional 0.52 of an inch up to noon.
The rain during Saturday night was al
most incessant and was accompanied with
much thunder and lightning. In the Han
scom park district some of the sewers
were blocked by floating debris and streets
were flooded, as were numerous cellars.
A force of men was sent out with sections
of hose to flush out the blocked manholes
/ and the trouble was remedied before noon,
when the rain had ceased.
storm Sewers Blocked.
In some instances the railroad yards were
| badly flooded, particularly in the vicinity
| of Twenty-second and Twenty-fourth
streets, through the blocking of the storm
sewers. A long section of sewer work on
! South Twenty-fifth street south of Leav-
enworth, which is now in process of con-
struction. was badly damaged by the heavy
rains of Sunday night and will all have
to be gone over again. Along North Twen-
| ty-fourth street numerous cellars were
| flooded by the torrent of water, and the
street cars had considerable trouble be-
cause of the flood getting into the car
motors. In the low lying sections of the
city gardens have been completely ruined
| and will have to be replanted. The gen.
eral damage by the rain has not been ex-
cessive, but building operations will be
badly handicapped through the flooding OF
excavations and which will have to be
pumped out before work can be resumed.