Evening star., 1949-02-17
Deep Snow and Floods
Cut Off Western Areas
And Add 10 SUFFERING |
By the Associofed Press

BY the AsSoeI0feo FfeSS
Mountainous SHOWS and flood
waters in some areas of the storm
stricken West isolated several
communities today, stranding
thousands of persons.
Food and fuel shortages in some
of the snowbound Wyoming towns
became more acute. The misery
of ranch families mounted. At
least a dozen small towns and
several ranches in the Elko New
area were marooned. Residents
declared an informal state Of
emergency" and private and Army
pilots flew food into the area.
Flood waters in Pysht Valley on
the Olympic Peninsula isolated
five Northwestern Washington
communities. Several other towns
were threatened. Snow slides
roared into Pacific Northwest
mountain passes, impeding rail
and road travel across Washing
ton.
For the second time in week
the mining town of Burke in
Northern Idaho was isolated by a
slide which cut its only road to
the outside.
Landslide Kills Woman.
A landslide in Port Angeles,
Wash, killed a woman last night.
Flood waters spilled over 20 blocks
in the community of 10000. Planes
from the Port Angeles Coast
Guard base planned to fly food
and mail to some of the isolated
Washington towns. The coastal
highway was under feet of water
IN some places.
Generally, weather over most OF
the Western blizzard States was
fair yesterday. but new falls OF
snow and strong winds appeared
headed for storm battered wy
omlng, the Dakotas and Nebraska.
Temperatures moderated yester-
day and there were no heavy
snowfalls. But strong winds
whipped across the isolated Sec
tions of Wyoming for the 18th
straight day.
Meanwhile, the House Agricul-
ture Committee unanimously ap-
proved s44,000,O00 in loan funds
for farmers in the storm areas.
Chairman Cooley announced he
will ask immediate passage by the
House.
Fund for Emergency.
The bill makes a revolving fund |
of the regional Agricultural
Credit Corp. available for loans.
The advances would be for farm !
ers who need emergency credit to
help them recover from the losses
of livestock, crops and trees.
1t. Gen. Stephen j. Chamber
lin, commanding general of the
5th Army, was to have a look
around in the blizzard disaster
area today. He was to go from
Omaha to Cheyenne, Wyo., and
Rapid City, S. Oak. He also
planned a flying inspection trip
over stricken areas.
All highways in Southwestern
Wyoming we're reblocked by drifts.
The Union Paciflc's transconti- |
mental railroad line through
Southern Wyoming was closed and
trains were rerouted by way OF
Denver and Salt Lake City. Food
and fuel supplies dwindled at
Casper, Wyoming's second largest
city. The city of $4,000 popula-
ton has been without regular
transportation for four days. !
Nearly 200 Trucks Held Up.
Between $50 and ITS interstate
trucks were held up in Wyoming
because of a gasoline shortage
caused by the drifted roads. Many
contained valuable shipments. TWO
truckloads of turkeys. valued at
more than $4,000, were stranded
at Rock Springs where all roads
except United States route 80
north of Kemmerer were blocked.
Warmer temperatures in Ne
braska resulted in thaWing and
brought warnings of flood danger
at some points. In Washington,
the Agriculture Department
warned that the heavy SHOWS in
the West may create devastating
floods when they melt this spring. /,
1t is drawing up plans to move
millions of bushels of stored grain
from the path of possible floods, !
particularly grain stored as COL
lateral for loans under its price
support program.
Strong winds hit the Oregon
coast last night. Windows were
smashed and trees felled in Port
land, Spokane and other towns.
Winds reached a velocity Of As
miles an hour at Spokane, and in
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, gusts up to
10 miles per hour uprooted trees
and tore roofs off several build
ings.
Weather over the rest of the
country was fair. Temperatures
moderated in the Middle Atlantic
States after a few days Of near
sprinklike readings. Some rain
fell in the area. Warm weather
continued in the extreme South
east and the mercury was above
normal in California.