Evening star., 1933-08-25
BY J. S. EDGERTON.

BY ]. S. EDGERTON.
The first comprehensive description
of the scenes of destruction and suf
fering which were visited upon the
Eastern Shore Of Maryland By the
tropical hurricane OF Wednesday night
was brought back to Washington yes
terday afternoon by members Of an in
spection party sent out by the Depart
ment of Commerce Aeronautics branch
to the devastated areas.
The party was sent out, before COM
munications were opened with parts OF
the storm area, to determine the ex-
tent of the damage and find whether
any emergency steps could be taken tc
by fiood waters
The Department of Commerce ex-
pediticn was followed an hour or two
later by flight of four Army planes
sent out by Maj. Gen. Benjamin D
Foulois for the same purpose. Fed
eral planes have brought relief during
the past few years to thousands OF
flood victims in many parts of the
country and were prepared to renew
their work IN the flooded Maryland
Delaware an( Virginia sections.
Work on Rehabilitation.
Yesterdays aerial inspection trips
however, revealed that, although ter.
rible havoc had been wrought by tht
storm. especially at Ocean City, Nd
and the section Of Eastern Shore west
OF that point. the inhabitants already
were hard at work to restore communi.
cations and lines of supply ana tht
emergency was rapidly being relieved.
The ocean resort cities of Delaware
and Maryland and many parts of the
Del-Mar-Va Peninsula we're isolated
from the world and had been unhearc
from when the Department Of Com,
merce party was sent out. The De
partment Of Commerce hangar at
Boiling Field still was under watel
and the only plane available was the
at Washington Airport. This plane it.
self had been partially submerged
water entering the after end of the fuse.
lage and covering the landing wheel:
and braking mechanism.
The motors. however. were no
touched and the plane soon was made
ready for fight. The Washington
Department Of Commerce airWats radio
station was out of commission because
of the sto;m and though the plan;
carried the finest radio equipment avail
able, 1t was out OF communication witt
its home field throughout the flight.
Wind Aids Speed.
George E Gardner. chief airline in.
spector. was at the controls as the bis
ship took off through the puddles a
II: so pm. and headed for the Deia
ware coast Boiling Field still wa
under water as the plane passed over.
head.
There was good Quartering tailWinc
and the plane settled down to a fas
pace, reaching Upper Marlboro II
minutes after the takeof. The PatuX-
ent was high out OF its banks. coyerlns
the highway in and near the town
The Patuxent River Bridge Wa uadcl
water and a truck could be ce-n hal
suome. god after having turned oveI
oH the approach.
The road toward Chesapeake Beacl
was under water in many places eas
of Marlboro. the waters at one plac,
extending a half mile wide The plant
had climbed to an altitude of 4.20O fee
by the time Chesapeake Bay wa
reached Is miles south of Annapolis
The bayside cottage settlements did no
appear from that altitude to have beer
badly damaged. though many were
partly flooded
The bay itself gave striking evidence
Of the storm. The fats were covered
with wreckage, tco small from our alti.
tude to be identified in detail The
water in the shallow was muddier than
any aboard the plane had ever seen.
View Flooded Town.
The first damage to be seen above
the Eastern Shore was a demolished
airplane on a little landing field neal
Easton, Md. At 1:20. however, the
plane passed over a town Identified
from the map as fredericksburg which
was badly flooded. A church and larger
buildings in the center of the toWr
were cut off by water and the bridges
were covered too deeply to be seen ol
were washed out. A barn near the
town was unroofed, the first sign o.
wind damage
A few minutes later signs Of serious
floods appeared The main roads o1
the eastern Shore were under water
in many places. Fields without mum.
Der were under water and cCrn was
laid fst, so as to be clearly seen from
mile high. The Rehcboth Beach roac
was under water so Geep that the roac
could not be seen at one point Smaller
roads were buried or washed out u
scores of places.
Rehoboth Roads Flooded.
At 130 the plane passed Georgetown
Del, the main road of which wa
flooded in several places Traffic wa
moving on the Du Pont Highway a
Georgetown. Two minutes later Reho
both Beach appeared ahead. with Cap
Henlopen to the left. The main rad
into Rehoboth from all directions wer
flooded. A biidge to the west was sub
merged. with a small motor launcf
sunk beside it. Farms throughout TIL;
section were cut off by flooding of road
and fields, many of them standing OF
islands or in the water.
Rehoboth appeared to have suffered
no damage except for loss of parts O
the boardwalk After circling Reho
both and seeing no signs of distress
the plane was headed south along tn,
coast and from this point on the dam
age became progressively worse.
The coastal highway was washed ou
in literally hundreds Of places and ap
parently will have to be entirely re-
built for many miles. At Bethany
Beach the boardwalk was gone, road
flooded. houses partially submerged ane
several roofs were gone
House Moved Half Mile.
One house had been carried half
mile down the beach, where it was de-
posted on its side high above the sur
line The beach road was entirely gont