Evening star., 1927-02-17
Damage From Four Days of
Rain, Snow and Wind Esti-
mated in Millions.
TWENTY CITIES PARTLY
OR WHOLLY DELUGED
Wire Communications Crippled
Railroad Tracks Washed Out.
Another Storm on Way.
Rv The Associated Press.

SAN E'RANCISCO, IepA u"A
DesDite the condition and roar or hlgh
water. f1ood-stricken southern Gail
fornia. today turned an eye toward
the growing totals of death. ana oe-
str,,ction as the result of the worst
storm in it's history, while thousa'oS
of its besieged citizens sought reluse
from a menace still unabated.
With the known death toll stand
ing at 81. property losses from ram
snow and wind which have beset the
southland with unprecedented violence
for four days probably will total sew
eral million dollars. Up to an carry
hour today, 5000 persons hao oeen
driven from their homes.
survey late last night, made up
from, reports received over lmlteu
lines of communication, showed at
least 20 cities had been partly or
wholly deluged. Damage to prldges
alone in Los Angeles was estimated at
81 100000.
San Diego i'm Danger.
San Diego stood in imminent danger
of a catastrophe flood Tor seNerai
hours last night and early today, put
the waters finally receded to below
the danger point. At one time engi'
neer were considering plan to dyna-
mite a Sante Fe railroad bridge, there
to lessen the danger because the
structure had been holding back the
roaring overflow.
Communication was limited and the
city was cut off from all wire service
except one or two congested tele-
graph and telephone lines. No esti-
mate of the San Diego losses could
be made early today.
A survey of damage at Taft, which
is out of the Southern flood area,
where a windstorm toppled over
nearly 100 oil derricks. indicate the
loss, there would run to $25O,Oo0 or
more. San Francisco shippers
claimed a loss of 100000 due to the
weather. !.
Union Pacific Railroad officials said
equipment destroyed in the wreck of
the roads Los Angeles Chicago Flyer
at Whittier Tuesday night would rep
resent $150.000 loss.
Untold damage was caused to crops,
orchards, highways and homes in the
San Fernando Valley, where several
towns were inundated.
13 Killed by Snowslide.
The death toll in the snowslide in
the mountains above Fresno reached
13 last night, when coroners reports
had been checked. Two ayalanches
struck the camp of the Southern Cal
ifornia Edison Co. there, causing the
greatest tragedy of the storm.
Twenty-four persons caught in the
slide still are in hospitals, many OF
them seriously injured.
Resides San Diego and Los Angeles.
the badly flooded cities include Long
Beach, where some $500 persons were
driven from their homes by high
water, 64 city blocks having been
flooded; Venice, where 600 or more
were forced to flee; Anaheim, with
20 blocks inundated, and Fullerton,
where 40 blocks were under water.
At Anaheim, an oil tank, under
mined by flood waters, toppled over
and added its $4,000 barrels Of petrol
cum to the food, covering the sur
face of the water with greasy mix
ture. At Escondido, one of the show
places of San Diego County, 6.62
inches of rain fell Tuesday night and
early Wednesday.
While some of the rivers and creeks
were reported receding and the flood
crest passing, weather reports said
another storm of unknown proper
tions was rolling in from the Pacific.
More rain today also was promised.
The Pacific storm was reported to be
48 hours away.
Storm May Delay Fleet.
At San Pedro, storm conditions
threatened to delay the departure Of
a section of the Pacific coast battle
fleet today for the Atlantic to partici
pate in joint maneuvers with the East
ern naval unit.
Traffic in the Southland was com
pletely paralyzed for a time, but limit
ed train service was resumed at Los
Angeles toward the East last night.
The death list included one drown
ing at San Diego. four from traffic ac-
cidents in Los Angeles, one death at
Taft, and one at Riverside. In sew
eral of the cities the water reached a
depth of three to six feet. Some
places in the Mission Valley of San
Diego County We're reported to have
been under 10 feet of water
San Gabriel River threatened for
time to break through the control
levees and the Santa Ana River left
its banks late yesterday, imperiling
the Anaheim Garden Grove district.
Other rivers in Southern California.