Evening star., 1949-05-19
Flood Waters Recede
In Texas; Oklahoma
Faces Serious Threat
sy the A,soeioisd Press


DALLAS, May 19-Flood waters
receded at Fort Worth and Dallas
today, but tornadoes were a con-
slant threat.
Fort Worth citizens were NOV
ing back into their water -ravaged
homes and officials evaluated the
damage caused by fash flood
that held the city in paralyzing
grip for "a hours.
The raging Trinity left toll of
nine lives and damage estimated
at $6,000,0 at Fort Worth. But
1t lost its punch when it roared
toward Dallas. The river reached
a 48-foot crest. then subsided
rapidly last night.
Shallow Rivers Mile Wide.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma. which
had tornadoes two nights in aI
row, faced serious floods today.
Prairie creeks and shallow
rivers, overtaxed by four days Of
storm, flooded the Western Flat
lands. In some places they swelled
to more than mile wide.
The Washita River. so miles
southwest of Oklahoma City. |
flooded feet higher than the
record of 1888. 1t swamped Fort
Cobb and Anadarko window deep.
Property damage is already esti-
mated at $1,000,000 and Anadarko
was struggling to get emergency |
power. The flood knocked out
power and water facilities.
The Carnegie-Fort Cobb area
Just a few miles upriVer from
Anadarko got a total of 8 inches
of rain-6 inches in less than 3
hours. Carnegie, Mountain View
. and Gracemont were all partly
under water from the Washita.
Norman and Purcell, south OF
Oklahoma City, were warned of
flood crests on the South Canadian
biggest river in Central Okla
'homa.
- Residents Told to Flee.
, Farther east, a more serious
threat was aimed down the river
toward Whitefield, just below the
confluence of the North and South
Canadian in a lowland valley.
Residents at Whitefield. 10 miles
southeast of Tulsa, were told to
evacuate the river areas and re-
move their cattle.
Yesterday tornado struck the
little Texas Panhandle town OF
Kellerville, damaging homes, oil
field equipment and utility lines
and ripping up trees. 1t was the
only damaging twister In series
that fitted around the Panhandle
, during the afternoon.
No one was killed and there
were no. injuries in the village OF
SO population.
Other tornadoes, accompanied
by heavy rain and hail. did hide
and-seek in West Texas but caused
no damage.
Rain and hail hit the north
plains towns of Panhandle, Berger,
'Gruver, Claude, Stinnett, Miami,
Conway and the rail siding of st.
Francis, while in West Texas
ranch and cattle country Crane
was in the path of a storm that
blew down some shacks and dam
aged roofs.
Fort Worth Finds 8 More Bodies.
While there was no major dam
age from flood waters in Dallas Z
proper with it's 60-foot levees. the
area downstream where there are
faNnlands and some residences,
expected serious flooding for a
couple of days. This area has only
private levees thrown up against
the water.
: Three more bodies were dis
covered at Fort Worth yesterday
to bring the flood toll to nine.
Thirty were counted as injured
and $4,000 homeless.
Meanwhile, Amarillo's death toll
in a tornado that hit the Pan
handle city over the weekend
rose to six as Mrs. A. r. Fango
of Paris, Tex, died in hospital.
!. The death toll for Southwestern
storms in the last four days now
rests at 1S with more than 16O
injured. Mole than half of those
were hurt at Amarillo Oklahoma
had one dead and 38 injured in
tWiSterS.