The Oskaloosa herald., 1915-08-05
GREAT DAMAGE
MANY LIVES LOST
RESULT OF cLoUDBURsT AND
RAINFALL IN PENNSYLVANIA
CITY OF ERIE SUFFERS HEAVILY
Houses Washed Away and Towns in
Total Darkness. Wires Are
Down and Crops Com
pIetely Ruined.

Erie, Pa, Aug 4.-Nineteen bodies
had been taken at one o'clock this af-
ternoon from the tangled wreckage of
the flood which swept through the
streets of Erie last night. Every hour
from one to three corpses are uncov-
Tered by the workers who are strug-
Cling in the midst of the heaped up
debris which lines the course of Mill
Creek through the center of the city.
Mill Creek down which the flood
swept enters Lake Erie a mile from
the center of the city. At the place
where the creek empties into Lake
Erie serchers with nets are recover
ing bodies of the dead as they float
out into the lake.
Erie, Pa, August 4.-Ten bodies
were in the morgue at eight a. m to-
day, taken from the ruins of Erie's
greatest flood, following three cloud
bursts last night about six o'clock.
The coroner believes that at least
fifty were drowned. The flood tore
homes out of the valley of Miss Creek
Tor five hours last night and came as
high as the second story of business
blocks on upper State street. All rail
roads entering the city are reported
washed out. Twenty-Five Lake Shore
trains were stalled. No gas or cleo
tIicity was available today and news.
papers are set with hand type. The
loss will probably reach $4000,000.
The heavy precipitation caused the
dams south of the city to burst, let
ting out a food of water that filed
the main business streets to a depth
of five feet and in some sections to
the second story windows:
Among the first plants to go out of
commission was the Erie County Elec
trio company which supplied the city
with light .+-
All telephone wires were put out
of commission by the flooding of con.
Quits and it will be seeral days before
can be restored.
At Ninth street along Mill Creek
the food was at its worst. 1t is impos-
slbie to ascertain how many actual
~ have lost their lives there. Many
still are imprisoned in houses and the
resCuers, led by Mayor Stern and
members of the city council have
been unable to get them out.
The entire eastern section of the
city is cut off by the water and what
conditions prevail in the center of
this district cannot be Conjectured.
Among the missing are Assistant
Fire Chief James Buernon and four
firemen. Reports were made to the pO-
lice that a house floated down Mill
Creek with two women and four chill
drcn clinging to it. Firemen tried to
rescue them but lost their lives in the
attempt.
Every store in State street, the
main business street of the city, is
flooded and at least fifty houses are
reported washed away.
The JareCkl manufacturing plant
has been washed away and twenty
automobiles that were in the garages
went with them.
A little girl standing on the banks
.of Mill creek was carried down to her
death when the bank caved in.
Wreckage is piled seventy feet high
in the heart of the city.
The creek rose four feet in five min
utes and then the onrush of water
came SO fast 1t was impossible to eStl-
mate the speed with which it rose.
Houses were torn loose from their
foundations and culverts were chOk-
ed.
The rain which preceded the flood
started with heavy thunder shower
at o'clock in the afternoon and con-
tinued for several hours until the
cloudburst The water in Mill Creek
began to rise at o'clock.
About two hundred persons are
housed in the City Rescue mission
and hospitals and other charitable in
situations have opened their doors to
the distressed.
1t is estimated that two thousand
persons are homeless. Boats are be
ing used in the flooded district, but
as yet none has been able to pene'
trate the center of the food because
of tn rush of water.