Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-26
DESCRIBE
HURRICANE HAVOC
u. S. Planes Braved Storm
and Dangerous Mountains
to Aid Santo Domingo.

ings IN ruins, were wildly described BY
members of the crews of two Navy tri-
motored Ford transport planes which
returned to Anacostia Naval Air Sta
ton yesterday afternoon, after IL days
of relief work in the storm zone.
The edges of the storm area are as
sharply marked as If laid off with rule
and knife. according to Lieuts. G. F..
Harper and Aaron p Storrs &c. of Ana
costa Naval Air Station, chief pilots of
the two big planes. On one side of the
line trees stand untouched, on the
other everything is laid fiat in twisted
ruins.
Though 20 days have elapsed since
the storm the natives have not recov-
cred from their shock and distress and
the work of reconstruction is just be-
ginning to get under way. In some
places rude shacks made of material
salvaged from the ruins have been
erected; in others the natives still wan
der around apparently in a daze, I'M
able to get started on the work of re-
storing their homes.
Street Wreckage Cleared.
IN Santo Domingo City, which was
in the direct path of the storm. little
more has been done than to clear
wreckage out of the center of the
streets so traffic may move. The efforts
OF relief expeditions and the more re-
Sponsible of the natives have been d.
rected almost exclusively to medical re-
lief, the prevention of epidemics and
the feeding of the people.
In the relief work the two Navy planes
and Marine Corps Ford from GUAM
tlco, Va, have played major parts.
Ihey have transported ton after ton
OF sorely needed medical supplies and
T1Nl,,
stricken city, when all other communf-
cations were broken down Even ships
were unable to reach the city because
OF vessels sunk by the storm across the
mouth Of the river forming the city's
harbor.
The expedition Of the three Navy
and Marine Corps planes to Haiti and
Santo Domingo forms one of the OUT
standing aviation romances of the year.
When the calls for help began coming
from Santo Domingo it became appar-
ent that airplanes would be required
and the Navy was called upon for as
siStance.
Ordered Planes to Go.
The nearest available transport planes
were the two at AnacoStia and one at
Quantico, and orders were issued for
them to get under way Immediately.
despite the fact that dangerous weather
conditions were prevailing up and down
the Atlantic Coast.
The crews had little notice. Lieut.
Storrs, just back to Washington from
Columbus, Chicago and Cleveland
where he few with the Nays finest
acrobatic formation, recently organized
at Anacostia, was forced to leave with
only 80 minutes warning.
approximately Az tons of medical
supplies were loaded aboard the three
planes. Lieut.. Harper was in command
OF the two Navy planes, and he and
Lieut.. Storrs were chief pilots of the
two ships. With Lieut.. Harper as CO.
pilot was Chief Aviation Pilot L. c. Nc
Aaiister. and as mechanic Aviation Ma
chinists' Mate w. T. Dooling. Storrs
was accompanied by Chief Aviation
Pilot P. I. Gum and Aviation Ma
chinistS' Mate w. H. Gerkin. The Ma
rlne Corps plane, which joined the two
Navy ships at Norfolk, was flown BY
Mai Roy S. Geiger, U. S. M. G.
Storm Is Encountered.
The tail end Of the hurricane was
sweeping the Atlantic coast when they
LOOK on and the weather was exceed
lngly bad. Leaving Norfolk September
10, on day when even the mail planes
were on the ground, the three Fords ran
into the storm head on. They headed
away from the coast, hoping to work
around to the west. The storm blocked
their way. They headed back toward
the coast and were cut off once more.
Then the storm closed in behind, pre-
venting their return to Norfolk.
But for the emergency character of
the trip, Lieut.. Harper said, the planes
probably would not have left Norfolk
for three days at least. Lieut.. Donald
Eloridge, former meteorological of1icer
at Anacostia, advised them against try
ing TO get through, and told them that
II ne was issuing orders they would not
nave been permitted to get away.
Fought Storm Three Days.
They fought the storm through the
Carollnas, Georgia and Northern Florida
Tor three days, and then had fairly
good weather for the remainder of the
night to Port au Prince. During the
three days of bad weather they were
constantly on the lookout for a second
hurricane which had been reported on
its way up the coast.
We used the radio continuously"
Lieut.. Harper said, land got weather
information from every possible source.
We maintained communication with
Anacostia all the way down to CANA
guey, Cuba"
The three planes landed at Port All
Prince September IL and the pilots re-
ported, under instructions from the
Navy Department, to the Marine Corps
commander for relief duty. From the
day they landed they were out of COM
munication with Washington, and not
a scrap of information was received
here regarding them until yesterday.
after they had started back.
They were pressed into service irnne-
oiately flying medical supplies and food
from Port au Prince across towering
mountain ranges to Santo Domingo City,
making trip each day, with the big
planes loaded to capacity.
we carried an enormous quantity of
supplies over those mountains" Lieut.