Evening star., 1927-05-04
The Great Task of Flood Relief.

1t is not easy for those who live in
the safer regions of the country,
which are immune from the visitations
of flood waters, to comprehend the
magnitude of the task that Is faced by
those engaged in the rescue and main
tenance work in the lower Mississippi
Valley. The enormous extent Of the
water-covered region, the immense
number of the people affected, the ut
ter helplessness Of those who are
driven from their farms and homes
by the advancing tide all make the
undertaking one Of the greatest diff
Guilty.
There is first the need of boats to
take the floodcaught people from their
safety zones" on islets formed by
the waters, in trees, on the roofs OF
buildings. To accomplish this task
veritable navy is required. Light
draft craft, with power, must be used.
There can be no counting of the boats
thus put into service. Today's report
states that twenty-five carloads of surf
power boats have reached Natchez for
this use in rescuing persons cut off by
the flood.
To direct the work of rescue calls
for capable administration. No hap
hazard procedure will avail. There
must be central stations, to which
calls for aid can be sent and from
which the craft may be dispatched.
Haste is necessary. The people caught
by the waters may not be left for
hours, but must be taken off speedily.
When they have been placed in
safety in refugee camps these flood
sufferers must be fed and sheltered.
To care for them calls for highly or
ganized work. Enormous quantities
of supplies must be transported. Rail-
road service must be adjusted to meet
this emergency. Constant medical in
spection must be maintained to lessen
the dangers Of disease spread through
these camps. Again efficiency Is re-
quired, and it is to the infinite credit
of the local agencies and the American
Red Cross that this task is being ac-
complished effectively and fully.
Breaks continue to occur in the
levees in north Louisiana. That State
gets the final burden of the floods.
The protecting banks must carry the
accumulated flow of all the watershed.
Already ten Louisiana parishes are
wholly or partly covered, and the area
of inundation increases hourly as new
breaches are made in the levees and
as the waters spread from prior ones.
1t is not yet determined whether
New Orleans will be spared from in
undation. The artificial break in the
levee below the city has somewhat
lowered the level, but to overcome this
advantage are coming the torrents
from the north. At NatcheZ the crest
appears to have passed, and slow
recession is there noted. But in New
Orleans the greatest apprehension is
felt, and as the hours pass the stage
of the river is noted and publicly bull
letined. The safety Of the city is a
matter of only few inches. Should
the waters near the top Of the levees
with the crest still above the city an
exodus may take place. But where
win these luckless people fee? There
are more than 100000 people in the
normal population, which has been
swelled by refugees from the delib;
erately flooded plantations from the
south and elsewhere. There is no high
| land near. To move this great mass
Of people by boat would be virtually
| impossible task. Yet New Orleans
| hopes for the best and continues to
| watch the waters.