Evening star., 1946-06-03
70-MiIe Gale HitsArei
In 5-Minute Fury,
Leaving Destruction

A wild, uncharted squall struck
the. Washington area with heavy
rain and 10 mile-an-hour winds
early yesterday, leaving trail OF
destruction in Alexandria, Va; Sill
yer Hill, Md, and other nearby Sec
tions. Trees were uprooted, roofs
torn off and power lines blown down
The storm, described by the
Weather Bureau as a strong gale
swept out of the west at about 9:48
am. without warming. The main
fury of the storm skirted Washing
ton through the Oxon Hill-Silver
Hill area, crossed the Potomac be-
low the National Airport and struck
Alexandria. The Weather Bureau
said the storm expended itself little
more than five minutes after 1t
sprang up.
No flood conditions accompanied
the storm, although Sc inches of
rainfall were measured here over
the week end. Nine Maryland high
ways were blocked, however, by ris-
ing waters of the Patapsco and Mo-
nocacy Rivers yesterday which in
undated streets in Ellicott City and
Linthicum, Md.
A number of trees and power
lines were blown down in North.
west Washington during the gale
blacking out sections of George.
town for more than half an hour
High wires also fell in the
100 block of East Raymond street
Alexandria, where the storm as
sumed 'twister" proportions for a
few seconds, according to witnesses
Emergency crews of the Potomac
Electric Power Co., police and fire.
men were called to remove fallen
trees, repair disrupted power serv-
ice and protect property in the
2300 block of Thirty-ninth street
NV, the 1900 block of Canal road
NV, the $500 block of Thirty,
eighth street NV. and the 540C
block of Nebraska avenue NV.
The Weather Bureau had only
four minutes to warn aircraft pre-
pairing to take of and land at
National Airport. so suddenly did
the gale. strike the city. The fore
caster said weather charts showed
no indication the freak" storm
was approaching the area.
Winds were measured at So m. .p.h.
at the airport, where high winds are
fairly constant but meteorologist
said velocities of more than TO miles
an hour must have been reached at
the center of the storm to blow down
trees and lift rooftops." When winds
reach 80 miles per hour, such a
storm officially becomes hurricane.
A number of freak accidents were
reported by police, but no one was
injured. Miss Irene O'Donnell, 1881
K street NV. narrowly escaped in
jury when tree was uprooted and
crashed through window of her
third-foor room, shattering glass
and turning over a desk. Another
tree was blown to the ground in
front of the house
The schooner Windfall, riding at
anchor in Washington Channel near
Hains Point, was torn from its moor
ings and harbor police had to over
take and rescue the vessel.
The roof of a grocery store in the
1900 block of Branch avenue, owned
by William E. Latimer, was partial
ly blown off and windows were blast
ed in an apartment building at
Twentieth and K streets NV.
A number of trees were blown
down in Alexandria, according to
City Engineer c. Luckett Watkins,
one particularly large tree I'm the
200 block of South Fairfax street
blocking traffic for more than an
hour. Six large trees and several
fences were pushed over in Del Ray,
but no injuries were reported.
Property owners were advised by
Mr.. Watkins to have all trees ex-
amined because heavy rains have
left the ground wet and trees may
be weakly rooted and could become
easy prey to the next high winds.
Automobiles owned by Clyde
Hampton. 104 East Randolph ave-
nue. and w. M. Moore, LOG East
Randolph street, Alexandria, were
damaged when their two-car ga
rage collapsed.
Elsewhere, in Prince Georges
County, Md, at least a dozen trees
were blown down, according to
county police, and barns, chicken
coops and stables were flattened.
Montgomery County reported no
damage.
The rampaging Monocacy River
Is still rising rapidly along a 30-mile
stretch in Frederick and North Car