The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-08-28

s4@SAeeSSs crippled communication lines. Pleas for medical aid. food and shelter fil- tered through from countless fish dng towns which had felt the storms fury.
 From others, there came only an oaninous silence.
 Hourly, reports of property dam age scared. Thousands of homes and summer cottages were crushed, hundreds of fishing craft were smashed 70 bits by the angry waves. whole towns were isolated and plunged into darkness, rice crops and unharvested cotton were crossed off as a total loss.
 A toll of six dead was counted in the storms wake. On the coastal highway near Corpus Christi a fa1n- fly of four was wiped out when their automobile piled up against 8 stone wall, sl1rouded from view by torrential rains. The bodies of two fishermen recovered near Port Isa- bel at the southernmost tip of the state.
 Red Cross supplies were rushed to the Houston area and refugees streamed in from the coastal areas to receive emergency housing and food.
 Merchants closed their stores, boarded up their windows and tied down signs and other property. Residents battened down their win- 5,~,r, ,~SlnA f.,rvri&,,va ooo 1nsf fhn walls and prepared to "wait out" the storm.
 Houstons ship basin was crowded with small craft seeking shelter from raging 10-foot high tides and ripping winds. At the Brown ship building and Todd Houston ship yards, workers were sent home and told to remain lon call" Heavy Damage In the wake of the storm, resi- dents ventured out for the first time in 24 hours to survey the dani- age. i At Port L.avaca, coastal com- munity of 5000 practically every house was damaged by 135-miles per hour winds that hit the city yes- terday. A preliminary estimate placed damage at between $750, 900 and $l,000,000.
 Two of the towns big cotton gins were damaged and an entire row of fish houses leveled, and the histotric Episcopal and Assembly of God Churches completely destroyed. During the height of the storm, mountainous waves swirled over Q l9-foot blu6 before the city. within inches of pouring down on the main street Fishing schoo1iers were bat te.e9 against the sea wall. Expen- sive yachts fioundered helplessly or the beaches.
 John Alexander, United Press staff correspondent, sent from the coastal town of Rockport an eye. witness account of the hurricane's wrath.
 | Unable to find security in tn. towns hotel, Alexander spent thu night In his automobile which wa. bounced around 'like & rubber ball." After a sleepless night, ht found the town smeared with the wreckage of store fronts and houses Plate glass windows had beer smashed and sheet iron awnings ripped from the moorings, snapped into pieces like 50 many match sticks.
 Boats Wrecked i Along the seawall, he counted the wreckage of what must have been 3s or 45 fishing boats and light craft piled up in broken heaps.
 In Bay City, 60 miles southwest of Houston, the air was filled with boards and sheet-metal as the city was buffeted by 100-mile an hour gale. Seawater poured over the downtown streets, two feet deep ir some areas
 The fishing communities of Sea- drift, Arstwell, Tivolt and Palacios also were lashed in the storms center last night. Residents issued frantic pleas for Red Cross aid.
 The Corpus Christi area also was the scene of destruction. Dam. age to crops alone in the Bend area was estimated at more thar $l, ,5O0,000 and an estimated 1O.O0( bales of unpicked cotto nwert ruined in San Patricio county alone.