Evening star., 1936-03-24
Farms and T0,uns of Fertile
South Branch Valley Destroyed
Rich Lands Pared With Rocks by Flood
NeU Railroad Ties BOmbnrd Bridges
and HOuSes-T,uO BOYS Sare Scores.

days the town was cut of from all
communication. 1t is Just getting the
debris cleared from its streets.
Gathering force, the river descended
upon the farming center Of Moorefleld
county seat of Hardy County. The
business section was like an island in
the lake which covered the valley.
The fire department was modified and
all day long did heroic work. First
they rushed with trucks to the rescue
of a colored settlement just outside
the limits Of the town. Twenty-three
families, with as much Of their house
hold goods as could be gotten together
were rushed into the town just as the
water was rising over the hubs OF
the trucks.
Continue Rescue In Boats.
Then the firemen went out in boats
to rescue farm families in the country
Three families were brought into
Moorfield in safety. In one house
in Moorfield a woman had just re-
turned from the hospital. The house
was just on the border of the food
zone. The fremen didn't want to
move the woman If it could be helped
so the fire engine was set to work
trying to pump the rising water out OF
the cellar. 1t gained on them and
started seeping through the ground
floor. 1t was decided to take the sick
woman and others Of the family out by
boat. After they had been taken out
of a window the boat capsized. but
one of the firemen lifted the invalid
in his arms and kept her from get
ting wet.
About this time the city water main
burst. Power was cut of. All the
telephone and telegraph lines were
down and for two days Moorefield was
unable to get word Of its plight to the
outside. Rain was falling necessarily
The fire department pumped all night
to provide water for one Of the fac
tories to keep its steam plant running
With this steam plant 1t was able to
provide enough power to the town for
lights for short time.
Provisions began to run low. There
was little meat and no yeast for
bread making. Trucks could not get
through in either direction with the
bridges down.
Up to last week old timers in Moore
field used to talk of the great food Of
TT. When others boasted of expert
ences in '89, the great Johnstown flood
they would smile contemptuously. II
was a little thing compared with the
South Branch overflow of TT. They
didn't know how high the river went
at that time, except that some Of the
houses were rebuilt with their founda-
tions well above the high-water mark
This time the water swept over the
first floors of these houses.
Rocks Pave Model Farm.
Warned of the coming flood, farmers
did their best to drive their cattle into
the hills. Sometimes they we're driven
out chest high in water Some had to
be abandoned. One of the most Curl
Gus freaks played by the river near
Moorfield was the transformation
wrought in the farm Of @. r. Miley,
long the model farm Of that part OF
the valley. 1t now is literally paved
with rocks. Whether the river depos-
tied them or whether they were
washed down from the mountainside,
neighboring farmers are unable to say.
They only know that the farm is now
worthless.
Another curiosity was the behavior
Of the South Fork. one of the tribu-
taries Of the South Branch, at the
little village Of Bakers Run. There
the river cut itself q new channel,
entirely cutting off three houses and
running under the house Of Otis Brad
field. Bradheld's home now Is In the
middle Of the stream.
Inestimable damage was done by the
gulleying of fields and the removal Of
thousands Of tons of fertile top soil.
Between Moorefield and Romney the
valley widens out, and the villages
are on the hillsides until the river
comes to Green Springs, just above
the point where the South Branch
empties into the North Branch to
form the main body of the Potomac.
The North Branch backed UP into the
already swollen South Branch and
Green Springs put In . terrible night.