Evening star., 1952-04-14

Stote- -by-stote HiehIshts Of Midwest's
Bottle Against Flood. Poee A-3
strous BIS foot crest at Omaha,
compared with flood stage of 10
feet.
With other rivers rampaging,
too. the Red Cross reported 19,349
families in eight or nine Midwest
States are homeless or about to
be displaced by floods. This was
estimated to represent about 74,-
600 persons.
Army engineers estimated a
total Of 1,249,000 acres of land
are under water along the Missouri
and its tributaries from North
Dakota to Southern Nebraska.
One of the biggest. if not the
biggest, mass movements of fam
lilies is in the Omaha and Council
Bluffs area, with combined pop
ulation of 100000.
Evacuation Underway.
In these two cities evacuation of
residential districts normally hold
ing about 10000 persons is under
way as the two cities wait for the
crest. This, flood experts said, is
the largest group of persons af-
fected along the Missouri River
Valley.
For Sioux City, with 81, 1000 per-
sons, and neighboring South Sioux
City, Nebr., with $500, the crest
came after the two cities already
had surrendered. Inundation had
been a creeping, progressive thing.
Downstream, town after town
was either PROSTATE or abandoned.
About two-thirds of Council
Bluffs $4,000 persons had fled or
were pulling out of their homes.
Across the river, in the East
Omaha and Carter Lake Qowa)
areas, homes of perhaps 5000
more were similarly deserted.
These were ghost areas, patrolled
only by soldiers, police and civil
guards. Not even persons who live
there were permitted to enter
much Of the area.
Record High Levels.
The river, meanwhile, was at
record high levels and steadily
climbing.
The old high mark of 24.6 feet
established in 1881 was passed yes
terday.
Early today the reading was 25.4.
At 26.6, the river will be at the
level which levees and flood walls
along the two cities were designed
to handle. Freeboard or safety
margin adds three to five feet to
the levee height, however. and
today's battle consisted of a con-
tinued all-out effort to add two
feet to the levee height, while
maintaining constant vigil for
breaks and giving immediate at
tention to the sandboils which
the tremendous pressure was Gre
ating, especially on the Iowa side.
5000 in Task Force.
The levee task force on the
Iowa side numbered 5000 men.
Almost as many worked across
the river.
A levee failure could come any,
time-before, during or after the
crest.
THE test is now," said Brig.
Gen. Don G. Shingler, Missouri
River division engineer. The river
is really leaning against the
levees." he added.
The flood-ravaged Missouri
River area extended all the way
from Lower South Dakota. along
the Iowa-Nebraska reaches and
into Kansas and Missouri.
Easter Sunday developments in
the Nebraska Iowa food picture
included these:
Gov. Val Peterson invoked the
provisions of Nebraska's Civil De-
fense Act for Omaha and Douglas
County and planned similar action
for Burt County. The move gives
civil defense leaders the right to
take over the d-f1ghting effort
and frees them from personal
liability for their decisions.
Iowa'S Gov. Williams S. Boards
ley asked President Truman to
designate the hard-hit Western
Iowa counties as disaster area.
The Governor also last night
sent 40 State reformatory inmates
to South Sioux City to do levee
work aimed at saving seven to
ten blocks in the main business
district.