The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1908-08-20
-FOUR inches OF
rain CAME down
HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION ON
RECORD IN oSKALOosA.
AN ELECTRIC STORM ALSO.
Thunder and Lightning is Severe, But
No Damage is Reported
Streams Terribly Swoi-
len by the Flood.

Oskaloosa and that part of the
county lying to the northwest of the
city was visited by cloud burst
between midnight and two o'clock Sat
urday morning. Over four inches of
water fell The downpour was &C
companied by wonderful and fearful
bombardment of the heavens. The
| lightning and the thunder was unus-
ually heavy, the vibrations shaking the
stoutest buildings. The flash of the
electrical discharges and the accom-
panying reports were incessant, one
following upon another in such rapid
succession as to make one continuous
roar.
The discharges of electricity seemed
to be between two great banks of
heavy black clouds, one bank coming
from the southwest and mingling with
another swiftly moving bank out of
the northwest. Only few of the dis
charges of electricity were between
the ground and the clouds, and no
word of damage by the lightning has
reached here. Not in twenty years
has this locality experienced such a
storm and such a downpour.
The rainfall was terrific. The wat
er did not come in drops. 1t poured
from the clouds in streaks and
streams. The gauge of M. Vreeland
which is as authentic and as conserv-
alive as any government glass, showed
al,
ter inches of water fall. Mr.. Vree-
land has been making observations in
IOskaloosa during the past twenty
years and he states that this is the
record in this community within the
period of his experience.
The great downpour of water filled
the streets and the sewers. The
water stood in the streets of the city
from curb to curb and at the low
places where the streams gathered,
lakes We're formed several feet in
depth. Creeks and the smaller drain
age ways suddenly became filled,pour-
ing the flood into the larger draws. All
of the lesser streams suddenly be-
came roaring rivers, tearing across
their bottom lands or roaring within
the confines of narrow bluffs.
At Beacon, two miles southwest OF
the city, the water poured down the
main street in flood that surrounded
the railway station. The creek. a
short distance to the west. left its
banks and is still raging torrent.
Skunk river at the Waterworks sta
ton between the hours Of one and
nine O'Clock had risen about eight feet
and is still coming up. At Glendale
mills northeast Of the city, the rise
has been even greater The water
) early this morning had risen twelve
feet and was running over the bottom
lands, and still coming up rapidly.
4, At six o'clock no one dreamed of a
rain and the whole city was in prep
aration to attend the evening session
/ of the Chautauqua. At seven o'clock
) a bank of light clouds appeared in the
west. An hour later the clouds began
working from both northwest and
: southwest and rumblings of thunder
were heard. A slight rain fell in a
; O'Clock. After this two storm centers
Iseemed to have formed and these sep
jarate storms coming in contact evil
IDENTIFY were raised against each other,
precipitating the moisture held, in
a comparatively small area.
The rainfall to the northwest of the
city was even greater than in this
locality. A portion of the Rock Island
track and embankment between Leigh
ton and Evans was washed away by
the food that came down the valley
of the creek.
An Iowa Central crew entering the
lefty from the north at the heaviest
period of the storm assert that the
fall of water was so heavy that the
space between the rails was filed with
water and the rails could not be dis
Itinguished for distance of more than
a mile out of the city.
The heavy rain caused a bad wash
out on the Rock Island at Fishville,
Inear Evans. The passenger from Des
Moines due in the city at 9:20 a. m,
was several hours late as result
The train left Des Moines on time and
left Leighton on time, but had to
stop between that place and Evans.
A wash-out on the Rock Island main
line between Newton and Colfax de-
layed the connections with the Iowa
Central, and Des Moines papers were
not received in the city until noon to-
Iday.