Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1920-01-09


all available points of observation tab
ulated and recorded on the weather
map, the weather bureau foretold
many hours in advance the peril that
threatened the Gulf coast. Thus the
people were forearmed.
1t will be recalled that storm warn
ings were displayed regularly on the
south Florida coast since Monday
morning. How accurate the weather
bureaus forecasts had been is shown
by the press dispatches dated Wednes-
day night, September 10: Lower
Florida was paralyzed today as re-
suit of the violent hurricane that pass
ed over that section last night Not
house in this city (Key West) es-
capped damage; 800 frame buildings
practically were RACED, two church
ediflces wrecked, and five retail stores
overturned. The damage is estimated
at more than 100000. Shipping off
the coast met with disaster. Several
small vessels were sunk and others
were driven to the reefs"
it's fight to keep destruction and death
at the minimum, was able to act with
more defniteness, even though there
was no adequate means of ascertain
ing atmospheric conditions in the CEN
ter area of the Gulf of Mexico. The
report of September II, flashed over
the wires from Washington. read:
1.-THE tropical storm is apparently CEN
trail tonight in the Gulf of Mexico
with latitude q degrees and longitude
SO degrees. Absence of reports for
bid the definite location of the storm
center. and it is therefore impossible
at this time to state the portion of
the mainland that it will first reach,
although it is fairly probable that
it will be west of the Mississippi river.
Storm warnings are displayed from
the Louisiana coast eastward to cen
trail Florida and on the northwest
coat of Texas"
While the hurricane was moving on
it's northwestward course additional
news, brief but vivid, filtered in from
Associated Press representative wired:
mine members of the Ward line
steamer COrydon crew of SO men
were brought to this port this after
noon by the schooner Island Home.
They had been adrift on an upturned
three days. One Of the crew, accord
ingI to their story, had become crazed,
froln suffering and privation Wednes-
daY night, and sprang overheard"
TIP these hours the thoughts of the
chief forecaster instinctively turned to
Call weston, which in the past had suf-
ferdd terribly from similar storms.
DISPATCHES from that city indicated
that the tide was rising rapidly. Wa
ter WAS flooding the low places on the
iSiahd and people were@ fleeing the
cityt A 30-mile northeast storm was
blowing. But for the weather bureaus
timely warnings which had reached
Galveston before the gale struck the
city, millions of tons of cargo and
scores of ships would have put to sea
and would have been lost.
In the next "a hours the storm burst
upon the Texas coast in full fury.
While the papers the next few DAYS
were filed with accounts of the dam
age and death caused by the hurricane
the fact of greatest significance. and
which the public has come to take al
most1as matter OF course. only par-
tally realizing the skill and response
bility involved, was thar he weather
bureau had been able to anticipate
this storm long enough in Advance to |
prevent a loss that probably gould
have totaled thousands of live. and
millions of dollars in shipping.