Evening star., 1954-10-16
Hurricane Leaves Death and Debris Virginia and Maryland
Damage Widespread
lin Old Dominion;
IAt Least Seven Dead
by shs Asseelossd Press

p.
by The Asseeicssd Press
Hurricane Hazel roared across
the eastern half OF Virginia yes
terday, leaving a 2Oo-mile-wide
path of death, destruction and
debris.
Hazel ripped into the Old
Dominion with winds Of above
100 miles per hour, giving Vir-
ginia's inland areas a bitter
swallow of weather customarily
the property of coastal areas.
At least seven persons lay dead
today In the wake Of the fierce
winds, and there were indica-
tions the toll would mount.
Three members of the tug In
dian, which sank in the turbu-
lent James River, so miles up
stream from Norfolk, were miss
ing. Four other crew members
were saved. One unidentified
body was recovered.
Damages i'm Million.
Damages ran into the millions
but no count even remotely ac-
curate was available.
Hazel's skirts brushed as far
west as Roanoke and the Blue
Ridge Mountains, causing many
school children to be sent home
early.
Suffolk was hardest hit by the
wind, which reached a peak of
l08 miles per hour. highest
recorded in the State. One large
warehouse of the Planters Peanut
Co. collapsed and four persons
were injured.
| National Guard units patrolled
the streets to prevent looting
when the storm broke plate glass
windows in business establish
ments downtown.
At Virginia Beach the wind
reached an estimated IS miles
per hour. Many store fronts
were demolished and National
Guardsmen with rifles were put
on patrol. Roof damage was ex-
tensive. There were no injuries
and the beach Jared better than
expected.
Small boats were swamped
near Hopewell and in tidewater
coastal waters. High waters
caused the smile -long James
River Bridge near Newport News
to be closed temporarily.
The Virginia Ferry Corp. s
ferry, Princess Anne. was blown
aground at the Kiptopeke ferry
dock on the Eastern Shore. II
was ref1oated by commercial tugs
after about six hours.
Ferry Runs Cancelled.
The State Highway Depart
ment Cancelled all runs. of its
ferries. including those in Hamp-
| ton Roads.
The Northern Neck area was
cut off from power supply and
communications. State Police
headquarters at Richmond sent
a trooper in a radio car into the
Kilmarnock- Warsaw area, where
the police barracks was unable
to communicate by radio. The
Rappahanock River Bridge at
Tappahannock is open, State po.
lice said.
The York River bridge at West
Point was closed to traffic due
to high water, but was expected
to be open this afternoon.
List Of the Dead.
The known victims of what
many observers said were the
worst winds ever to strike the
Old Dominion were:
Walter Lee Scott, 10, of Rich.
mond-killed when struck by
a falling tree near the Virginia
Museum of Fine Arts.
Mrs. Laura c. Burch, 43, o.
Norfolk-killed instantly in al
ACKNOWLEDGMENT crash on tn.
rain-slicked Petersburg Pix
near Richmond.
William Ira Pierce, So, a Nor.
folk automobile salesman-elec
trocuted when he walked int
street and tried to remove 6
downed power line.
Mrs. Elizabeth Pair, addres.
not available-crushed to deatl
when a tobacco warehouse wal
blew down in Brunswick County
near Emporia.
j. G. Raiford, sc, farmer O
Sedley in Southampton County
killed when the roof of thu
chicken house he was trying tt
repair blew off on him.
William Barnes, 81, of neaI
!, Parksley in Accomack County
killed when the roof of the chick
en- house he was trying to repair
blew off.
An unidentified seaman of tn,
Southern Materials Corp. tug In
dian which sank in the Jane.
River. First accounts said it wa.
believed the dead seaman was tht
skipper of the tug.
Small Business Agency