Evening star., 1921-06-04
MANY. .PERSONSD DIE
IN FLOODS WHICH
SWEEP. COLORADO
$4,000, 600 Damage in Pu-
ebIo-Hundreds Reported
to Have Lost Their Lives.
Loss RUNS INTO MILLIONS;
| HEAVY RAINS CONTINUING
Breaking Dikes and Weakened
Dams Menace Many Places.
Many Cattle Drowned.
BY the Associated Press.

Many Cattle Drowned.
By the Associated Press.
DENVER, Col. June 4.-First in.
formation that there had been loss Of
life at Pueblo when the Arkansas river
went on a rampage. there last night
was received here today. One report
from railroad sources said there had
| been considerable loss Of life and
| property" while a telegram to the Den
yer Times contained a statement that
hundreds of lives have been lost"
| The Times announced II could not veri-
| fly the report.
The dispatch to the Times said the
deaths occurred in the Grove district.
populated mainly by foreigners.
Residents of the quarter had been
warned that the flood was coming, but
did not leave their small frame and
adobe houses in time to avoid the on
rushing waters. the dispatch said.
| Newspaper men in Denver who ware
familiar with the location of the dis
trict were skeptical about such a
heavy loss of life They pointed out
that there were many high hills near
| the quarter on which people might take
refuge. -
! Loss Runs Into Millions.
Pueblo is without electric light.
power and water pressure, according
| to reports that reached the Denver
office Of the Western Union, Tele-
fires started by lightning were burn
ing in various parts OF the city and
| that due to the lack OF water pressure
I the fires could not be extinguished.
The food which inundated parts Of
Pueblo. due to heavy rains, was, re-
I Cediny fOd2V qccnrdinp N
| ceiyed here.
| Damage estimated at millions Of
dollars was done by heavy rains and
floods in eastern and central Colorado
the affected districts placed the loss
! of life at four.
Early today rain was reported to be
falling steadily throughout eastern
Colorado.
All wire communication out OF
Pueblo has been cut of since last
night. According to a message re-
| ceived at the Offices Of the Denver and
Rio Graude Railroad Company here
from its operator at Larkspur. Col,
which stood ats nine feet. six inches.
at 10 O'Clock last night. had receded
to three feet SIX inches at o'clock
this morning. rs
PILED VITA DrfftweeA.
The message said parts OF Pueblo
were piled with driftwood and defafl-
led railroad equipment and that the
downtown quarter was covered with
The first train to reach Denver from
Pueblo today arrived at 8 am, nearly
twelve hours late. 1t left PUEBLO. just
as the flood waters were beginning to
overflow levees and was held up At
Colorado Springs. Passengers de-
scrfbed the Hood as the worst they
had ever witnessed,
From all over that part Of Colorado
lying, east of. the Rocky Mountains.
probable loss Of life reported from
Pueblo. where several fires still were
reported burning early today, came
messages telling Of terrible havoc
wrought by the foods.
Early estimates of the MANAGE in
Pueblo alone dxed the figure at more
than $4.00o.00o. The message re-
ceived from Larkspur gave the oper-
ator's opinion that there has been
considerable loss Of life and prop
erty at Pueblo" -
Houses Are Swept Away.
At Frederick. Col. three feet Of
water in the main street was report.
land all wires were down and the
towns were without electric power
as the result Of the flooding Of the
power plant At Loveland. Between
Denver and Boulder a large area of
farm land was inundated, with the
damage estimated at 100000.
Houses were swept away at La
fayette and hundreds of head of live
stock were drowned when Coal creek
went over it's banks. sL
Il At Marshall all night long the res
idents remained up and prepared to
fear that the great dam Of the Farm
! ers' Reservoir and Irrigation COM
pany. three miles above the town,
would break.
The situation early today was:
Pueblo inundated and cut on from
. wire communication for hours. Private
news dispatches placed loss about
Marshall q town of 200 Inhabitants,
threatened by q break in the Marshall
; Louisville. inundated, several houses
and other buildings washed away.
,Loveland. dikes Of lake broken and
parts of town inundated: floods put
tout Of commission electric power plant
from which Weld county towns ret
their light and power.
Cloudburst starts tRanpaxe.
r. A heavy rain began falling at swal-
lows, hfteen miles west Of Pueblo, ut
o'clock. Virtually no rain fell In
the city itself. but S o'clock the
Arkansas river had gone over. its
banks and by 10 pm. every basement
from the river to the heart Of the
, business district had been flooded.
People marooned in ONCE buildings
were removed by means of hoata A
. II o'clock the water was rising
steadily and then suddenly the wires
went down and Pueblo was isolated.
Meager reports sitting in through
small raAroad-station towns. betwsen
Denver and Pueblo express the fear
that, there had been considerable ioss
OF life. No confirmation is possihie,
however. -.fs
In Denver heavy rain. mixed with
bursts of hail turned the streets into
terday. The rain continued All night.
but damage In Denver was slight
Five feet Of water was reported
message early this morning.
A Western Union operator remained
at~his key. in the Pueblo operating
room. sending news dispatch con-
cerning the food until the nood wa
ters had crept around his ankles
| AT Marshall the zoe inhabitants
| spent the night In their homes. fully
dressed, ready to nee when q signal of
bomb explosions. gave warning that
1.-The dam had broken. releasing SOC
acres OF water sixty-three feet deep.
1 The dam began TO weaken syesterday
Fofternoon, ~apd efforts to Jensen tho
| afrain. on the structure byEreleasiag
sort,e Of the fmpounded water were
rendered futile by the CONTINUED heavy