Evening star., 1939-02-04
Five Reported
Missing as 9
Die in Storm
Death Toll in SquolI
At Cambridge, Nd,
May Reach ID
BULLETIN.

CAMBRIDGE, Md, Feb. 4 tP.
Fear that the death toll of the
sudden squall which struck the
Choptank oyster fleet might reach
IA arose today when Capt. Joseph
Ruark and his crew of four were
reported missing.
A prospect of fair and colder
weather brought relief today to
flood threatened sections of the East
as Chesapeake Bay patrol boats
searched the Choptank River for the
bodies of nine oystermen drowned
by sudden squall late yesterday.
While the Potomac was still rising
toward the flood stage at Harpers
Ferry this morning, the local tribu-
taries had receded after inundating
loWlying sections of highway in
nearby Prince Georges County and
Rock Creek Park.
The Ohio River rose slowly toward
food stage from Pittsburgh to Car
rollton, Ky.-halfWay between Gin
cinnati and Louisville-but the
danger of serious inundation ap-
parently was lessened by freezing
weather which stemmed tributary
runoffs.
The temperatures, however, added
to the hardship of hundreds of
families forced to evacuate low
land homes as high water poured
into some Ohio River cities. Red
Cross and other relief agencies i'm
mediately went to work to care for
| the refugees.
Crest Prediction Revised.
United States Meteorologist w. c.
Devereaux at Cincinnati revised up
ward today his predicted crests for
the Ohio. He said crest of Sc feet
could be expected from Huntington,
w. Va, to Carrollton. Cincinnati,
where the stage was 49 before noon,
has 52-foot flood stage and Hunt
ington's is 54.
Warmer weather was forecast to-
night and Sunday for much of Ohio,
West Virginia and Kentucky.
The local forecast called for fair
and colder weather tonight, with a
low of about 20 degrees; tomorrow
fair" This outlook was general in
the East, it was aoid. The mercury
this morning got down to 80 degrees.
The Weather Bureau said the
Potomac at Harpers Ferry had
virtually reached the crest stage,
although the river was rising slowly
below. Observers could foresee no
damage under the present outlook.
Meanwhile, snow, ice, flood waters
and freak wind storms brought death
to at least 20 persons in scattered
sections of the country. The worst
disaster occurred at Cambridge, Md,
where a sudden, 50-mile-an-hour
squall capsized three small boats OF
the oyster fleet.
Storm Strikes Suddenly.
Patrol boats searched for the
bodies of Capt. William H. Bradford,
73-year- old dean of Bay oyster skip
pers; Capt. Theodore Woodland,
Mate Emerson Wingate and six COL
ored helpers. Veteran oystermen
said it was the worst storm they had
ever seen. striking with such sud-
denness they could not get their
sails down.
Capt. Bradford was leading the
fleet home with the weeks catch
when a black cloud closed in from
the northeast and the wind struck
20 boats. The veteran oySterman
and four helpers were swept from
their boat, the Agnes, which sank.
Two other boats were capsized,
with additional loss of life, and 9TH
ers swept into shallow waters.
through which the crews waded
ashore.
Lowlands Flooded.
Clearing and colder weather
brought relief to sections of Mary
land and Virginia where rivers were
beginning to overflow. Damaging
floods occurred in Western Vir-
ginia. At the same time the warm
est February 3 on record was re-
ported at Richmond and Norfolk.
Lowlands along the Shenandoah
from Riverton to Harpers Ferry
were flooded as the stream rose 9
feet above normal under ITS inches
of rainfall since Thursday.
Earth slides and high water
blocked sections of mountain roads
In Maryland and West Virginia
swollen streams Tapped at highways
In the Cumberland area the Poto-
mac River came within less than a
foot of food stage there when water
, reached a heighth of 16.7 feet at
, the measuring station about last
. midnight. The water began to re-
cede this morning.
Rain pelted the District and ad-
Joining States throughout most OF
yesterday. About an inch of rain
fell here up until 7:30 o'clock last
night, the Weather Bureau re-
ported.
Fog Hampers Air Traffic.
: Fog hampered air traffic both here
and in Baltimore. At about the
time the squall hit the oyster feet
near Cambridge the bay freighter
Eastern Shore was driven aground
(See WEATHER, Page A-3)