Evening star., 1953-11-08
Storm Havoc Heavy,
19Dead in Northeast;
Thousands Routed
BY the Assoeiuied Press

NEW YORK. Nov. IA sur
prise prewinter snowstorm COM
bined with jet winds and raging
flood tides created havoc in the
Northeast last night and today
and cost at least 10 lives.
Tides climbing 5 and 6 feet
above normal high-water levels
forced evacuation of thousands
of families on the New York, New
Jersey and New England coasts
to higher ground.
Waves repeatedly 20 feet high
crashed against the New England
coast. Winds of so to 10 miles
an hour whipped the area, with
gusts of 105 miles an hour re-
corded by the weather station on
top of New HampShire's Mount
Washington.
Several summer homes were
washed into the Atlantic Ocean
at Long Branch, N. j.
Pennsylvania Hard Hit.
The storm was one of the worst
in Eastern Pennsylvania since
before the turn of the century.
Lock Haven, Pa, had q
inches of snow and Philadelphia
rs inches. Philadelphia's was
its heaviest ever for early No
vember. Twelve college football
games were wiped out in Penn
Sylvania alone in addition to
cancellations in other States.
Roads were blocked, planes
grounded and trains late.
Delaware had a 9-inch fall,
disrupting traffic.
Snow fell from South Carolina
to New England.
La Guardia Airport Threatened.
The storm halted train, SUBJ
way, airplane and ferryboat
service in much of the New
York metropolitan area. La
Guardia Airport, threatened with
flood for a time by waves pound
ing against a 13-foot dixie, cam
celed 68 flights.
Most of the transportation
services were restored as the
tides and winds subsided later
in the day.
Fallen wires cut off electricity
to about $4,000 homes on Long
Island, leaving those with elec-
trically operated oil burners
without heat. Service gradually
was being restored. Tempera-
lures hovered slightly above
freezing in the metropolitan area
today. Six thousand phones
were out in New Jersey.
Hundreds of automobiles, some
with women and children. were
trapped overnight in snow and
ice on Route II north of Tuxedo
Park, N. Y. Police with bull
dozers from nearby construc-
ton project broke through to
them today.
Five Die in Turnpike Crash.
Five sailors were killed in an
automobile crash on the New
Jersey turnpike near Mount
Holly. Treacherous pavements
generally held traffic to snail's
pace and comparatively few auto
crashes were reported.
Four died in the storm in
Pennsylvania. A man found dead
at 4 am. today on a Brooklyn
sidewalk. was pronounced a vic
tim of exposure. The deaths of
two persons in Rochester, N. Y,
we're attributed to the storm A
man in Auburn died shoveling
snow.
At least five fishing vessels.
three off New England and two
off New Jersey, caught in the
storm, radioed appeals for help
Coast Guard boats went to their
aid.
A number of small vessels
were driven ashore.
Thousands Leave Homes.
From all along the northeast
coast came similar stories of
streets and first floors flooded,
sometimes with water waist
high.
Police estimated that more
than 5000 families we're evacu-
ated from a 30-mile stretch be-
tween East RockaWay and Baby
Ion on the south shore of Long
Island.
They obtained refuge in fire.
houses. schools. charitable insti-
tutionS and inland homes of
friends. The New York City Red
Cross sent 500 cots and blankets
to the area.
Other thousands of persons
were evacuated from the Coney
Island, Manhattan Beach, Ger
ritSon Beach and Seagate Sec
tionS of Brooklyn, police re-
ported.
Still others in unknown num-
berS were rushed inland from
exposed shore areas on Staten