Evening star., 1948-06-27
V'anpoh's Homeless
Still in Thousands
As Flood Remains
BY the Associated Press

PORTLAND, Greg, June 26-
Vanport-four weeks later-still is
under 16 feet of water,
It's thousands of people still are
waiting for homes.
Throughout the Pacific North
west at least 48 are dead; 16 are
still missing from Vanport. Ten of
the dead were from there
The Columbia River today is 9
feet above flood stage. Five weeks
ago today it first went over flood
stage here. -Four weeks ago to-
morrow it crushed the city of
Vanport. Two weeks ago it crested
and started its slow drop.
Not for another 80 days, according
to Col. Theron D. Weaver. North
Pacific Division Army engineer can
reconstruction start on broken lower
river dikes.
Stopgap Housing Is First Plan.
Reconstruction of shattered homes
must wait at least that long in
many places. Until the water falls
no one can say how much can be
saved from the 4,085 homes dam
aged along 1000 miles of river.
Stopgap housing is the first plan for
those who lived in the 5,202 family
dwellings broken into driftWood
In the upper reaches of the Co.
Iumoia, in Idaho and Eastern Wash
:. ington, rehabilitation is under way.
: Here, where nearby Vanport added
1890 to the list of homeless, va
&. Gated housing sites are getting
trailer camps.
Across the river at Vancouver,
Wash, wartime housing projects are
being renovated. Vancouver Bar
racks. abandoned Army post, Is be-
ing converted into a housing prof.
ect.
Hundreds Still With Friends.
Within two weeks, or three, houS-
for some 1000 families. Vanport
had over twice that. Some have
already been housed in projects
where there was some room, others
have moved away. but hundreds still
are guests of friends-and the well
come is sometimes wearing thin.
One Portland landlord went to
court to evict his tenants Vanport
guests He failed. Both guests and
hosts have appealed to the Red
Cross to help end the. doubling-up.
Trailer homes are the only imme-
diate answer The Government is
taking wartime trailers out of stor-
age The Federal Works Admins
tration has already received 500 and
more are on the way.
But the Vanport people don't want
trailerS-and the city is undecided
where to put them. Both are afraid
! the temporary homes will become
4 permanent.
s defense
; SS5O,000 Spent by Red Cross.
Such people as H. NJ. Hooker, a
CT dental student at Vanport
College, first to move into one of the
trailer homes, know pretty much
what the flood cost them. He had a
baseball glove and his wife has a
formal dress as their only pre-fiood
possessions.
Some people had less than that.
The Red Cross to date has spent
S850,000 to give them food and cloth
ing and to start their rehabilitation.
Richard Gordon, disaster operations
director, says the Red Cross may
have to spend more than S3,0000 900
with the total tentative until needs
. and other agencies relief plans are
known. In only one other single dis
aster - the 1887 Ohio Mississippi
River flood-haS the Red Cross spent
more than $3000000, he said
The Army Engineers poured 81
100000 into its fight against the river
in the Portland district. An army
of 11,037 men patrolled, sand-bagged
and strengthened the dikes. They
lost the fight on - of the 43 dikes
in the Portland district-but those
they saved guarded property esti-
mated by Col. Weaver at a value OF
s500.000, 900.