Evening star., 1941-02-17
10000 Lose Homes
In Santander Fire
And Hurricane
83 Fatalities in Spain
And Portugal; Many
Buildings Destroyed
b. II E Associated Press.


10000 persons were forced from
their homes by a gigantic fire
which swept through Santandei
yesterday and today in the wake oi
a disastrous hurricane which
claimed at least SO lives in Spair
and Portugal.
Reports from Portugal said hun.
dreds Of persons still were missing
long after the hurricane blew itselI
out and 1t was feared the total o.
deaths would go much higher
Portuguese Army units were callec
out for rescue work.
The flames at Santander were still
blazing today. but fire fighters were
believed to be gaining the upper
hand.
Among hundreds of buildings re-
ported destroyed or badly damaged
in the Bay of Biscay port city were
the Bank of Spain, the Cathedral,
the government revenue office and
the customShouse.
Money and other valuables were
said to have been removed from
the bank building. of recent con-
struction, before the Wind-fanned
flames reached it. The Cathedral,
a Gothic style structure, was built
in the 18th century. Much of the
residential and commercial area
surrounding it was destroyed.
Loss Put at $4,000, 900.
The city's homeless were reported
to have been assembled in nearby
summer resort towns and lodged
in hotels ordinarily vacant at this
time of year. Reports thus far re-
ceived mention only a few casualties.
Losses from the fire, which
meager reports by way of a ships
radio in the harbor said started
when an explosion occurred aboard
an oil tanker moored in the harbor,
were estimated at from 100 to $50
million pesetas (s9,Oo0,ooO to s13,-
100000.
The tanker blaze was said to
have been blown into the city by
the high wind. Fire fighters rushed
to the stricken city from as far
away as Madrid, in many cases over
miles OF SnoW-covered mountain
roads. Early reports said three per-
sons had been killed.
Other Spanish towns and cities
were sending much-needed food
supplies to help the fire refugees
Burgos is going without bread to-
day, having contributed it's entire
supply. Almeria offered 5000 loaves.
The modern section of Santander
was reported to have escaped dam
age.
Soldiers and military police were
sent from San Sebastian.
25-Mile-an-H Hour Wind.
The wind was reported to have
reached a velocity of 125 miles ar
hour at Cintra, a town in Portuga.
few miles northwest of Lisbon.
Among the dead in Spain were
said to be 26 persons killed wher
three coaches of a stalled electric
train were blown from a bridge into
SAOAc1 4bANN4 AICo4 AOu4A 0CbcloL3o11
The Urola, a small stream, flows
from the Cantabrian Pyrenees into
the Bay of Biscay at Zumaya.
In Portugal alone, it was estimated
that rehabilitation work would cost
100000 contos (S4,000,000).
Crops of olives, almond and pine
groves, cork trees and vineyards in
Oporto and other sections of Portu-
gal were declared to be virtually
ruined.
Cars Blown From Bridge.
The known death toll thus far
from the hurricane included 27
workers and farmers drowned in
the Tagus River near Alhandra,
Portugal, and nine were killed In
Libson.
More than 120 were injured in
the train accident and $50 persons
we're hurt in Lisbon, where the
property damage was estimated at
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Many of those injured in the train
accident were taken to the gale
damaged hospital at nearby zu-
maya, where operations were per-
formed in candle light.
Telephone and telegraph comnu-
nicaticns in many parts of Spain
and Portugal were wrecked by the
wind.
More than a hundred workers and
farmers were believed trapped on
islands in the Tague River in Por-
tugal when their boats we're blown
away or smashed.
At Cintra, where airport hangers
were demolished, eight planes were
destroyed and the Spanish Airways
Douglas transport badly damaged.
Sixteen luggers and smacks were
sunk in the Tagus, along with a
dredge and scores of smaller boats.
Several larger vessels were dam
aged.
British Bomber Forced Down.
Shipping in the Strait of Gibral-
tar was halted and a freighter
anchored there broke from her
moorings and piled up on the beach
at La Linea. Two naval seaplanes
also broke loose and crashed to-
gether.
A engine British seaplane
bomber made forced landing in the
Bay of Setubal, Portugal, at the
height of the storm and ran aground
It was believed the craft would be
permitted to proceed within the
legal limit Of delay allowed bellig.
erent units.
Damage from the hurricane
worst in the 87-year history of the
Central Observatory in Lisbon--alsc
was reported in Burgos, Seville
Pamplona, Cordoba and Algeciras
Spain.
Santander's fire recalled the dis.
aster of a half century ago wher
the city was devastated by a fire
following explosion of a shipload o.
dynamite. Two hundred persons
died in that fire.
Relief Ship Has Trouble
Docking at Codiz
CADTz, Spain, Feb. II CP.-Tht
American Red Cross relief ship Cole
a1,,~