Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-10-04
FURIOUS STORM
CR|PPLES TRAFFIC.
Wind Uproots Trees--Tor.
rental Rain FaIis-Heat
Wave Broken.

cooler weather following q wind and
rain storm Of nearly hurricane
violence which struck last night at
/ The end Of several days of record
breaking and unreasonable heat.
During the height of the STORM in
I the half hour which began at 1915
o'clock. trees were blown down all
over the city: street car ira ffic was
tied up in many sections Of the Dis
, trict and the Maryland and Virginia
suburbs: electric lights went out at
many points: automobiles were put
out of commission, and Geographic
communication with the North and
South was delayed by broken wires
Fair and cooler was the forecast to-
day.
The wind reached velocity OF 40
miles an hour and in 80 minutes nine
tenths OF an inch OF rain fell in the
city. The total rainfall for the pa
hour period that ended at 3 o'clock
this morning was 1872 inches. The
Weather Bureau reported that the
wind attained a velocity of nearly 80
miles an hour off the Atlantic Coast.
The greatest rainfall was reported
inches fell in % hours.
Damage in City Noted
The wind and the rain did almost
equal damage in this city and the sur
rounding region. Street car tie.ups
were due chiefly to the flooding of the
electric conduits and to sand and
gravel washed on the tracks by the
torreltial rain.
The 40 mile wind lasted only e. few
minutes, but that was long enough to
work great damage to shade trees on
the streets and in the parks At North
Capitol and i streets so many trees
were blown down that street car traffic
was delayed for time. In the Capitol
grounds several of the big magnolia
trees We're broken off near the ground.
Approximately 800 telephones, scat
tered throughout the city, were put
out of commission, but this morning
practically all were in working order
again. The Western Union telegraph
wires in the vicinity of Norfolk were
first reported out of commission. Then
traffic between Norfolk and Richmond
was seriously affected The storm at
this point seemed to sweep inland, for
the Wire chiefs in this city received
word during the early evening that
wires were down in many places in
the Shenandoah Valley.
Service between Washington and
Richmond was interrupted to some ex-
tent, and then, when the storm hit
this city and whooped on to the north,
wires commenced to go down or out
Of commission between this point and
Baltimore, Philadelphia and New
York
Storm Passes on to Boston
The storm was raging this morning
In the vicinity Of Boston, where wind
and rain were working havoc similar
TO that left in their wake all along
the Atlantic Seaboard as far as South
Carolina. The storm came in from the
ocean at point between Savannah
and Charleston night before last and
started north. It's center was at Rich
mOnd early last night, when the wind
velocity and rainfall had greatly in
The greatest wind velocity on
land was II miles an hour. at Atlantic
City.
OFF Piney Point. Md, however, 1t
reached velocity of 100 miles, accord
ing to a report to the Navy Depart |
ment this morning by the tug Choc- !
taw, which said two ot it's harges' had |!
been driven ashore |
1t was stated today ti7at last nights |
storm had no connection whatever !
with the Western tornado, but came !
from the opposite direction. !
Nearby Maryland Suffers.
The greatest damage here was in !
he north and northwestern portions of |
the city and in Montgomery County, |
Md. A large section to the northwest, |
including Rockville, Gaithersburg, |
Silver Spring, Kensington and Chevy |
Chase, was without lights for more
than an hour after lightning struck
pole on the Silver Spring viaduct
The Potomac Electric Power Co.
rushed wOfkmen to the scene Of the
damaged pole. But they were baked
BY flood which foared under the via
duct over Georgia avenue, where the
pole had been set on fire by the light
ming. For more than an hour the
men were kept away from the pole
BY the deep water.
Service on the Capital Fraction and
" ashsngton Railway 4 Electric street
"a lines was interrupted at various
points. The T3kon,a Park line os the
,crr2ec company was TED up ec- three
:oGr: &c % sad a.a grave. te:.g
-a-nAc NJ re 'ra re Tn.~S s:~aa.
&C ronroHn eVcnrs. rra CoynDans
r4'rn ouSes 70 tbs rrirt 70 ta<e
1aeSenGego n0rthward, while the cars
we're turned hack to the south.
Similar tie-ups occurred on the lines
IT the Washington Railway & Electric
20. The most serious interruption to
ervice was due to mud washed on
he tracks of the Somerset line on
Wisconsin avenue, which prevented
ars from running past that point for
hree hours. A shuttle service was
nut into operation. however, and pas
enGerS kept on their way by walking
round the obstruction.
Motorists called upon garagemen all
'ver the city for help. Many cars
'arked on the streets were flooded by
he deep waters and their ignition syS-
ems put out of commission. One
ealer reported so such cases.
Motorists Have Narrow Escape.
Bernard Riley of North Braddock {
ieights. Va. had a narrow escape {
uring the storm when avoiding
oliision with motor car driven by
William McCarter of Virginia Heights.
'hlch mad stalled on the Highway |
fridge. Rilcy's machine leapcd onto '
he foot walk and crashed Eart way /
through tho bridge rail- Neither man =
las injured II
The storm attained hurricane pro- |
ortions in calvert and Anne Arundel I
ounties i'll Maryland between 10 and r
/ o'clock. Trees suffered principally. &
q
'5,140.168 is D. c. BILL \