Imperial Valley press., 1926-12-10
VALLEY IS
STRANDED
by STORM
Continued Rain Makes
Travel Impossible at
All Points.
Ell CENTRO ISOLATED
Southern Pacific Only
Means of Getting To
and From City.

With rain still falling, and every
throughout the day and night, FL
Centre and the rest of Imperial Val.
ley today "sat tight and wonder
ed when the present spell of weather
is going to end. A feeble attempt
bv the sun to break through heavy
clouds shortly after 9 O'Clock this
morning, was shortlived, and in a
| few minutes the sky was again a
mass of heavy black clouds.
/ Business is practically at a
standstill. Telephone and telegraph
| service have been resumed with
Los Angeles, and the Southern Pa
| cific company has maintained its
| schedule. Otherwise FL Centre is
completely isolated from the rest of
the valley, as far as transportation
! concerned.
The Pacific Telephone & Telegraph
company resumed service to Los An
geles and other northern points last
! night, repairs having been effected
in the breaks between here at Riv-
erside, states w. T. Christian, the
, local manager. Every effort, he ad-
dcd, is being made to resume service
, over the Los Angeles line, but due
to road and high water conditions,
he is doubtful about it being affect
ed today. In event the storm
continues, the work will of necessity,
be delayed he added.
Material and additional men ar
rived in FL Centre this morning
from Los Angeles to 90 on the job
on the Mountain Springs grade. as
soon as the water subsidies at Coyote
Wells, where it is now running across
the road about five and six feet
deep. II is also reported that the
highway there is badly washed out,
! but to what extent will not be
known until the water subsidies.
Cars Stranded
Two enclosed ears, the owners of
which. essayed to get through to
Los Angeles yesterday, are in the
middle of the highway, with the
water swirling through them to
their very tops. A Pierce-Arrow
sedan, that took the San Diego and
Arizona road bed at Coyote Wells in
desperate attempt to get through,
hangs suspended in the very center
of a trcstle there which went out. .
Although the piling was gone, the
ties still held and the driver took
chances on their holding while he
crossed. Some did and some didn 7
Under the weight of the ear, several
ties were looscncd and the ear com
plctelv stalled in the middle of the
trcstle. That any ties held was for
tunate for the ear occupants, who
abandoned it and made their way
! back to FL Centre rs best they
could.
! A considerable number Of ears are
held up at the citv's auto park,
! where flooded conditions have made
it impossible for the owners to get
out. Because of the wet ground,
the occupants have been compelled
to find lodgings in the city or sleep
in their ears.
| II. G. Miller, superintendent of the
! Imperial district of the irrigation
! district, who with a gang of men has
/ been continuously on duty at the
! break in the wcstside Main at Dixie
land, reports this morning that he
has been unable to repair the break.
He states that about 1900 acre feet
of water is flowing into the canal
from the desert. There are several
other breaks in the canal, he asserts,
although just how many, he will not
be able to state until he is able to 60
over line. 1t will be 3 weeks before
repairs can be effected and it will
further be impossible to accomplish
anything material until the storm
ceases and the flood of surface
water subsidies.
AS result of conference held
this morning between City Engineer
Phil w. knights and the local offic-
ials of the San Diego & Arizona, a
drain was cut through the railroad s
embankment at Eighth street, which
releases the great amount of water
stored on the west side of town and
which is making that section almost
Continued on Page 6