Evening star., 1954-10-17
Disaster Aid SOUGHT
As Maryland Counts
3 Dead in Hurricane
Nv me A.,oeio,ed Press

. BALTIMORE, Oct. 16-A bat
tered Maryland still struggled
late today to recover from the
ravaging effects Of Hurricane
Hazel. which left q toll Of at
least eight dead and many In
jured.
There were indications the IA
tality count might climb to q
dozen. State police were investi-
eating a report that four men
were missing in Holland Straits
on the lower Eastern Shore.
It was still impossible to get
an accurate estimate Of the de-
-struction and damage to houses.
buildings, cottages and telephone
and electric lines. But it was
certain to climb into several
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
land possibly into the millions.
Eastern Shore Hard Hit.
The Eastern Shore was hardest
hit The powerful hurricane &C
! counted for five deaths there and
most of the area was blacked out
by snapped power lines. This
! afternoon three-fourths Of the
J Shore still was without electric
. power. The Eastern Shore Public
Service Co. said 1t might be days
before service is completely re-
stored.
! Meanwhile, Gov. McKeldin
wired the President asking him
to designate some areas of the
Eastern Shore as disaster areas.
Representative Miller, Republic
can. of. Maryland said earlier
that he would appeal for Govern
ment aid for the Shore.
These were some other deve-
lopments in the wake of Fridays
devastating rain storm that
swirled up the State with winds
of so to 100 miles an hour:
I. Several hundred homes in
: the Cumberland area were flooded
when the Potomac River crested
at "a feet. Another 100 families
in adjacent Ridgeley, w. Va, also
found water streaming into
Easements and first floors.
2. Numerous waterfront COM
munities were stranded as a re-
suit of high tides and giant
waves. They included Hoopers
and Elliott Islands, Wenona and
Wingate. Smith Island and
Rhodes Point. Families on Solo,
mons Island and Kent Island had
to flee to higher ground inland.
but returned to their homes
today.
Oyster Fleet Damaged.
8. Representative Miller re-
ported that his Easton Md) Of
flee had been swamped today
with calls from chicken farmers
and oyster men. They told of
"broiler houses lost by the hum
dreds," Mr.. Miller said. and
added that much of the oyster
fleet and industry had suffered
heavy damage.
4. The Chesapeake & Potomac
Telephone Co. said 1000 phones
were put out of commission. but
the company expected to have
80 per cent of them restored by |
Sunday night. Meanwhile. re-
pairmen and linemen SWarmed |
into areas to remove broken |
trees from snapped and snarled |
lines. About 5000 workers were |
out. or $500 more than would |
normally be working during the |
weekend.
5. The Gas and Electric Com
pany of Baltimore reported it
had asked for assistance from
utilities in Cincinnati, Cleveland.
Pittsburgh and Hagerstown tc
help restore lines. Meanwhile,
$50 gas and electric crewmen
OuG
Landslides Delay Trains.
6. Landslides on the mainline
In West Virginia delayed the
Baltimore & Ohio railroad trains
from the west for several hours.
The Pennsylvania railroad re-
ported trains back to normal
: schedule after running several
hours late between Baltimore
!. and New York.
: The report of four MEN miss
ing in Hollands Straits came
from Ellsworth Hoffman, an en-
ploye of the Tidewater Fisheries
Commission. A search was I'M
derway for the watermen.
The eight known dead were:
Howard Ward, 54, of Salisbury,
the son of former Representative
. David w Ward and brother of
Albert Ward. executive secre-
tary of the State Tax Commits
sion. Howard Ward was killed
when his skating rink in down.
town Salisbury collapsed while
he was inspecting it for damages.
Mrs. Helen Irving, A, of Mar
tinsburg, w. Va. She was swept
into a stream from a flooded
: bridge on Route "a near Sharps-
burg, Md. State police, sheriff's
officers and volunteer firemen
continued to search for the
: body.
Walter Aytch, 40, caretaker
at Highland Beach who was try
ing to recover a boat when the
craft capsized. His body was
recovered.
Vivian Wise, 3-year-old col
ored girl. who was struck by a
tree at Stockton on the Eastern
. Shore. She died In a hospital at
Salisbury.
. Crushed to Death In Car.
Duer Bloodworth, 35. of near
Princess Anne, who was crushed
to death when timbers and
debris ripped off a building and
era shed down on his car. His
wife, Virginia, suffered minor
injuries in the accident on U. s.
. 13 near Salisbury.
Henry M. Blazejak. jr., IA, Of
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