The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-07-27
HAVOC WROUGHT BY FLOODS.
Miss Helen Mcdowell, Of Fairfax,
Tells Her Experiences in n. c.

The following letter from Fair
fax girl, Miss Helen Mcdowell, who
is a member of a camping party at
Linville Falls, N. c., gives some idea
of the destruction wrought by the
floods in the vicinity of Linville and
Alta Pass on the c., C. and O. rail-
way:
Il suppose you have seen in the
papers about the dreadful flood up
here. It has been raining almost
continuously since we got here. Last
Wednesday night the wind and rain
came in torrents. l have never in
my life heard the wind blow so. Oh,
you can never know just how hard
it blew! Great oaks were taken up
by the roots and blown down the
mountains like feathers. All day
Thursday and that night the rain
poured in torrents. 1t rained until
the mountains were full of water,
when the sides would burst in great
streams taking parts of the noun
tains, houses and everything in their
wake. They call these bursts of wa
ter 'spouts'
There are four houses that 1 know
of that were washed away. All were
occupied. Three children and one
old lady were drowned. 1t is pitia-
BILE to see these poor people now
homeless, all their crops destroyed
and nowhere in the world to go.
have seen them all. They are. poor
mountaineers with big families; one
man with six little children and
little naked baby one month old. OF
course everyone is trying to help
them. The railroads have been wash
ed away on all sides as far as we can
hear.
Yesterday we went on long tramp
on Linville mountain to see the de-
struction wrought by the flood. First
we went to Bynum's Bluff, where the
scenery is said to be the finest in the
world. AS you stand on the preci-
pice four thousand feet above sea
level you can look over miles and
miles of country and view range after
range of mountains, then down in the
beautiful valley the Linville river
winding it's way around the noun
tains and the sun making rainbows
in the clouds below us. We waited
for the sun to set behind the great
Hawkbill. Oh, it is so wonderful and
beautiful! From here we went to
another view where we could see IN
to Tennessee, Virginia and West Vir-
ginia. Here you can view hundreds
of mountains. The largest is Roam
mountain, which is $3.50 feet high.
Others are Big Yellow mountain,
Black mountain and Grandfather. We
went on to another view and from
this we could see the results of the
flood. We counted nineteen places
on Humpback where water had burst
out of the sides and this was just one
side Of the mountain. The water
ran from this mountain down to the
valley and river below. The railroad
and station were at the foot of the
mountain and everything was COM
pletely destroyed. This is where the
people were drowned.
yesterday I walked fourteen miles
and then was not so tired. While
we were viewing the ruins of the
flood cloud came over us and we
could not see five feet ahead. Tell
the children 1 washed my hands in
the clouds.
1--WE want to go home just as soon
as possible, but the nearest station
is p miles away. It is BridgeWater,
but everybody says it is washed
away. We will have to ride 22 miles
on horse back as the roads are filled
with huge mounds of dirt washed
down from the mountains. and a We
hicle cannot go over them at all.
81 must stop now for we have only
a little oil in our lamp and when it
gives out, goodness knows when we
can get any more!'
Home Demonstration Notes.