Evening star., 1933-08-25
RIVER OVERFLOW
IS SWEPT TO SEA
Forecast of Fair Weather
Assures Against Rise Of
Potomac Here.

Clear skies today reassured the Ma
tional Capital there will be no flood
on the Potomac River here and this
opinion was backed by Weather Bureau
officials.
The flood crest came late last night
or early this morning and. aided by a
west wind. sped the swollen waters out
to the open tidal reaches. Further. R.
Hanson Weightman, weather FORE
caster. asserted that as there Is no rain
in sight in the Potomac River basin in
will flow down. without reinforcements
The weather forecast for this region is
fair tonight and tomorrow"
M w. Hayes. chief Of the river and
flood division Of the Weather R;;-eau
explained the Potomac River here will
not get any higher This mornings
report from Harpers Ferry. w. Va
placed the river reading there at los
feet, representing rise of 4 feet since
yesterday. But. Mr. Hayes says. this is
no rise Of any consequence. for the
river would have to rise an additional
6 feet to bring the waters to the top
OF the bank at Harpers Ferry.
Key Bridge Reading Dropa
At Sycamore Island, near Glen Echo
Md, Mr.. Hayes asserted. the gauge
reads 9.8 feet, where yesterday it was
80, representing rise Of only 1.6 feet
IN the last "a hours. Upstream off
Sycamore Island the waters from q
number Of Potomac tributaries pour
into the waterway. At Key Bridge, Mr.
Hayes pointed out, yesterdays reading
was 81, while this morning at 8 O'Clock
it was a. feet. While this represents a
drop, 1t must be remembered that the
river at Key Bridge fuctuates with tidal
conditions-a factor that is not present
upstream.
There has been and will be no flood
IN the Potomac above Key Bridge" said
Mr.. Hayes. There has been a rise, but
it will not be noticed in the tidal region
Of the river. The Potomac is now get
ting back to normal tidal fluctuations. ("
The chief of the Weather Bureaus
river and flood division asserted that
the crest of the flood here SO merged
with the tidal effect that there was
little disturbance. Above Chain Bridge,
the crest came late last night or early
this morning
A. H. Horton, district engineer Of the
water resources branch Of the Geologi-
cal Survey Interior Department, said his
gauges on the Antietam show reading
OF 10 feet above low water; on the
Monocacy, 27 feet above low water, and
that at Rock Creek where the @ Street
Bridge arches it, the reading Is IA feet
above low water-which Is aScertained
by average conditions existing In these
tributaries in September.
Practically all roads In Rock Creek
are again open, after trees and debris
have been cleared away, the United
States Park Police announced. Fords
in the creek in the park are still bar
ricaded and all main bridges are In
good order, they said. The police as
serted that practically all bridal paths
and foot bridges are out and Q large
amount Of the rustic furniture, used
in the picnic groves, was washed down.
stream. Park authorities are endeavor-
ing to recover these. Traffic In East
Potomac Park and on the Mount Ver-
non Memorial highway, shut of by
the storm conditions, was back to
normal
Washington's water service was not
affected by the unusual conditions Ed
ward D. Hardy, engineer Of the United
States Engineer ONCE, who has charge
Of the Dalecarlia Filtration Plant, said
Some of the embankment at the reser-
voir was washed out by the storm. but
this does not interfere with the service
Periodically the electricity was shut of,
shutting down the pumps for brief pc
RODS, but there was no halting Of sery-
ice to water users.