The Lamar register., 1921-06-15
FLOOD DAMAGE GREAT
Receding Waters Leave Marks of Vio-
l@nce That viii Take Time
To Heal

~ 40 Po'oibit W ~
a little more idea of what the dam
age is in the valley east Of Pueblo
the damage in that city is beyond all
possible means of calculation both in
loss OF life and property. Lamarites
who have visited the city say that the
worst that has been told in all re-
spects but loss of life is not equal to
the realities by any means. Only by
seeing the havoc wrought by the three
floods coming in rapid succession can
one get any idea of the pitiful facts.
The city is under military law and all
able bodied men in the city must work
or get out. Only those who work can
eat. The pay for all alike is 43 cents
per hour.
From Pueblo east to Nepesta the
damage is not great except along the
bottoms which are narrow there. At
Nepesta the Santa Fe got one Of its
hardest blows. The river washed out
the river banks until it made a stretch
of lake there over one mile wide to be
bridged. This means delay OF sew
eral days yet before regular traffic
can be resumed to Denver.
From Nepesta to La Junta the towns
did not get badly flooded but the dam
rge along the bottoms was immense.
AT Rocky Ford the greatest loss Of
life outside of Pueblo occurred, eight of
the residents of the low farms there
being drowned At La Junta the toll
in both life and property was fearful.
Six people were drowned and whole
section of the city almost wiped out.
The suffering was great and would
have been far worse but for the
prompt help extended by the local
Elks lodge and the citizens Of Trini-
dad. With the city lights and water
works both out Of commission the
danger to the whole city was great
but other possible calamities were
spared the citizens. The situation
there is well in hand now. Las Ami
mas had q whole section of the city
under water and great loss of prop
crty but no lives lost unless one un-
identified boys body proves to belong
in that vicinity. The greatest damage
to the Santa Fe tracks was at Caddoa
where nearly eight miles went out
As to Prowers county as the sound
OF the trains, both freight and pas
senger, again begin to remind US that
we are on the line of a great trans
continental railroad and not on an iso-
lated mound in a swamp, we can be-
gin to take stock and guess some
what where we are at" The best
observers estimate that loss to rail
road, county, corporations and indivi-
duals the total will foot up about
a half million dollars. The dam
age to roads and bridges while great
was not SO large as feared and ex-
peeted. To replace the cement road
and bridge approaches north Of Lamar
on the Santa Fe Trail will be the most
expensive part of the job The road
damage is greater along the trail than
anywhere else and it is believed this
will be replaced out of the fund voted
by the government to assist the work
Of reclamation in the valley. In the
meanwhile an emergency service has
been running over the A. V. railroad
bridge that has done much to relieve
the situation at Lamar. The cross
ings ct Granada and Holly were dam
aged but not SO great but what serv-
ice resumed almost immediately.
The damage to the railroad is be-
ing rapidly repaired, the Helvetia COM
pany is again getting in shape to re-
sume operations and is taking milk.
The many fine farms which were flood
ed are now in shape to estimate dam
ages. Some find their crops in fair
ly good condition and others report al
most total loss of this years crops
There is still time, however, for the
stock raisers to raise feed crops. The
Fort Bent ditch, the most badly dam
aged, now estimate the necessary re-
pairs at between eight and ten thous-
and dollars. The headgagte is intact
and the continued high water enables
them to get good run of water with
out a dam. The loss of livestock is