Evening star., 1951-07-16
Flood Recedes
AT Kansas City,;
ST. Louis Wary
Mississippi Rising,
But Officials Hope to
Avert Major Damage
BY the Associated Press


Central Kansas still reeled from
the impact of high waters.
The twin furies of fire and flood
lashed at Kansas City, Mo-. and
Kansas City, Kans, for the fifth
consecutive day.
Four industrial districts were
under water. Transportation was
crippled. The water supply was
curtailed. A seven-block fire
burned fiercely and destructively
just as it has since last Friday.
In Eastern and Central Kansas.
the swollen Kansas River and it's
tributaries receded generally. per-
imitting some of the thousands of
homeless to return to mud-caked
areas.
$4,000 Driven Out.
More than $4,000 persons In
both States were driven from
their homes.
But many of the towns still
lacked power and water facilities
Eastward in Missouri, the Mis-
souri, River crest rolled toward the
central part of the State.
Meanwhile in st. Louis, the
swollen Mississippi, with the Mis-
souri's flood waters surging to-
ward it inched further into the
riverfront industrial section to-
day but authorities hoped St.
Louis and the rich farmland
downstream might escape serious
damage.
The Mississippi climbed to SO
feet today. eight feet above flood
stage at st. Louis and is expected
to crest at 80 feet Sunday. That
would be the fourth highest level
recorded here but 1875 feet below
the disastrous 1947 flood.
Believes Levees Will Hold.
Mai. E. B. Campbell, head of
the st. Louis District Army En-
gineers. expressed the belief that
major levees from here to Cairo,
ILL.,, should hold but he said it
would take a lot of work by flood
volunteers.
Railroad tracks and construc-
tion material yards on the water
front here were under water. Sew
eral industrial plants were sur
rounded by flood waters and 9TH
ers were protected by sandbag
barricades. But st. Louis proper
is high and Army engineers ex-
pect no serious trouble, unless
more rains come. Property loss
so far here is estimated at be-
tween 100000 and 100000.
The Missouri, which pours into
the Mississippi at st. Louis, was
falling slightly today at St
Charles. but it is expected to
climb sharply again when Kan
Sas City flood waters reach there
the last of the week. Harry F
Wahlgren, head of the st. Louis
Weather Bureau, predicted the
Missouri would go to 375 feet al
st. Charles Saturday, the highest
it has been there in lot years
Already 10000 acres are under
water in that area.
The towns along the Kansas
River in Kansas are still digging
out of a flood that hit earlier this
month.
II Deaths Is Toll.
Seventeen deaths have been
caused by the gigantic flood.
| In this metropolitan area, mud
dy waters still swirled over thous-
ands of acres of industrial dis
tricts- Waters, ranging from a
few feet to 20 feet deep, stretched
over railroad yards, livestock in
dustries, grain elevators, oil re-
flnerieS, and manufacturing
plants.
The fire, burning since last Fri
day, has virtually destroyed "a
buildings and damaged others. AT
least IA men were injured battling
the flames in a flooded section.
1t was fed by more than l mil
lion gallons of oil.
The fire has engulfed lumber
yards and the storage tanks of
six oil companies. Firemen
brought it under control intermit-
tently only to have it flare up
again
I Violent explosions of fuel tanks
and naphtha tanks forced many
nearby residents, not in the
flooded section, to flee thei,
homes. The fire area is in both
Kansas Citys.
An explosive situation also ex-
isted in the Fairfax industrial
district-the last of three major
industrial areas to be flooded.
Water ranging up to Is feet
covered much of the 3,000-acre
area. Oil from the Phillips Re.
f1nery oozed into the flood waters
Harry G. Fair, the refinery su-
perintendent, said he did not know
just what damage was done by
incoming waters but I'VE can be
sure there was some straining OF
connections beneath big storage
tanks as they were tilted. The
Strain could be much worse as the
water recedes.
"We wouldn't have seen any
thing in Kansas City yet if some
spectators should unconsciously
|lh:ht a cigarette" he said.
Workers patrolled many of the
pants in the four water-covered
Industrial areas.
| At the Armour meat packing
plant, about 80 men labored to
Isave perishables and livestock
More than 800 cattle were being
kept alive on a ramp above water
| (See FLOOD, Page Az3.)