Evening star., 1937-06-15
BOLT STRIKES MAN
ASTHUNDERSTORM
DOES WIDE EDAMAGE
Arthur Godfrey Gives Aid to
Neighbor Struck on Porch
of Home.
1.3 INCHES OF RAIN
FALL IN HALF HOUR
100 Fallen Trees Are Reported.
Homes Suffer-Electric Lines
Down-Autos Stall.

Widespread damage to trees, private
property and electric lines through
out the Washington area was reported
today as a result Of a thunderstorm
that broke without warning late yes
terday.
Coming suddenly at the end Of
hot day, the storm drenched pedes-
trians, flooded streets, helped tangle
traffic throughout the metropolitan
area and routed the crowd attending
Flag day exercises on the east front
Of the Capitol.
Roland Wheeler Of Browns Chapel,
on the Leesburg pike, was burned on
the leg and knocked unconscious when
struck by lightning as he sat on his
porch. Arthur Godfrey, radio an
nouncer, whose home is nearby, gave
Wheeler first aid and restored him
to consciousness. Godfrey's home was
swept last year by fire started by
lightning.
While the mercury was dropping
20 degrees or more IN less than half
an hour, there was rainfall of l3
inches. Many automobiles were
stalled on city streets, boats were
rocked in rough waters of the WASH
ington channel and the Potomac
River, and airplanes heading for
Washington had difficulty making safe
landings.
20 Landed Safely.
Ten passengers in a Pennsylvania
Central Airlines plane from the West
looked down on the storm until the
pilot dropped through the deluge to
safe landing. An Army craft, also
carrying 10 passengers, came down at
Boiling Field without mishap Several
windows in the hangar here were
broken.
The busiest spot in town during
the storm and for some time thereafter
was the fire board. Upward of 100
fallen trees, in many cases closing
streets to automobile traffic, were re-
ported, along with fires and flooded
cellars. A special squad was as
signed to tree clearance. More than
80 fire alarms were turned in, most
Of them caused by short circuits.
A large tree fell and smashed part
Of kitchen at 418 East Capitol street.
and limb penetrated the front of
the residence at 420, next door. The
tree was cut by firenen, who fur
nished tarpaulin to keep water
from the inside OF the houses.
Lights Cut OF.
Several sections of Washington and
the suburban area were left Tempo
rarily without electricity on account
OF the storm. They included Wes-
ley Heights. Anacostia, parts of South
east and upper Georgia avenue, Oxon
HILL Md, and parts Of Bethesda,
Gaithersburg and the Old George
town road in nearby Montgomery
County and Falls Church, Va.
An aged tree fell in the 500 block
of A street southeast, blocking the
front entrances to residences at 51l
and 5l3
Several boats, cast adrift by the
storm, were quickly recovered in the
channel and the river. Harbor police
were unable to find man reported
in distress in an outboard motor boat
off Hains Point.
Forty-eight tents in the Boy Scout
| 1amboree centers Of Potomac Park
and the Mount Vernon Memorial
Highway were blown down by wind
| and rain. Officials estimated the
damage at Sl,500.
Hail in Virginia.
The mercury stood at 88 degrees
when the storm broke. 1t plunged
downward until it reached the low
Of the day, 81, at 7:45 pm. Yester-
days high was 81, registered in mid.
| afternoon.
Today the thermometer was on the
up trend again, climbing from 81 at
midnight to II at 7:30 pm. and "A
at am. The forecast indicated
cloudy weather and possibly showers
again today, with fair weather and
slowly rising temperatures tomorrow.
Nearby Virginia also suffered from
effects of the storm. A severe fall Of
hail was reported for a brief period
along Federal Highway No. /.
Five small fires were reported in
Arlington County, but they caused
no appreciable damage, the Fire De-
partment said. Many trees were up
rooted and roofs damaged in the
county. Falling trees cut off power
when. they broke lines in the Chain
Bridge section of Fairfax County. The
Chain Bridge road was closed to
traflc at Langley. Tysons and Nc.
Lean by fallen trees.