Milford chronicle., 1962-03-09
Lower Delaware
Loshed BY Worst
Storm In History
CONTINUED from page one)


The high seas ard gale-force
winds piled debris on the beach
, and on every street leading to the
I. beach. National Guard vehicles
were stationed at each street lead
ing to the beach.
The Delaware National Guard
+, has more than 700 officers and
men on duty in areas most seri-
ousry affected by the storm.
!. Primary mission of the Guard
units is to provide security in
evacuated areas. They have been
issued weapons and ammunition
and ordered to prevent looting.
z Damage at Rehoboth is unoffi-
cially listed at over $5,000,000 and
4 may grow higher.
: Units of the 19Sth Artillery on
duty are the End Battalion of Do
= yer, patroling the Bowers Beach
and Slaughter Beach area the 3rd
Battalion of Georgetown, patrolling
Fenwick Island, Bethany Beach,
Oak Orchard, and Lewes areas,
and the 9Th Battalion of Laurel,
patrolling the Dewey Beach and
Broadkill Beach areas.
They are using 21a ton Guard
trucks and MAP tracked gun car
riers (dusters) to evacuate resi-
dents from areas where normal
vehicles can't operate.
Major General Joseph ]. Scan
nell, adjutant general. is inspect |
ing the area today in the COM
pany of Governor Ebert ~ Car
vel, Colonel John P. Ferguson, su-
perintendent of Delaware State |
Police, and others.
The Guard is operating from the |
160th Group Headquarters at Mil
ford. A temporary command post |
has been set up in Georgetown un
der the command of Brigadier Gen
eral Herbert o. Wardell COM
manding general of the 261st Ar
tillery Brigade in Wilmington
Tuesdays average wind veloci-
ty was greater than that during
Hurricane Hazel in October, 1854,
according to the weather station
at Greater Wilmington Airport.
The average wind speed Tues
day was 1913 miles an hour. For
Hurricane Hazel it was 23.S.
/
cause it had guests up to 80 miles
an hour. Tuesdays guests reach
ed % mph.
Temperatures in the uppers 30s
Wednesday and low 40s Thursday
got rid of much of the 4.3 inches
OF snow which fell.
Colder than normal tempera-
lures are predicted for the next |
five days with warming trend
Friday followed by colder the t
first part of next week More pre-
cipitation is expected about Sun
day or Monday.
The Delaware Chapter Ameri- =
can Red Cross set up three shell
ters for storm victims in lower
Delaware. A fourth was on
standby basis.
4 About 35 .evacuees, including
several children, took shelter at t.
Lord Baltimore School at Ocean s
View.
Samuel Timmons, disaster chair f
man for the area. said he believes T
tie evacuees will have to spend \
tonight in the school. They are 9
from Bethany Beach and Fenwick :
Island IL
Other shelters have been set up :
in the Lewes School and at Mil I
ford. The one on standby basis .
is at Millsboro. l.,
The Red Cross provided food, !
clothing and other assistance ON
Tuesday for families evacuated
from the Kits Hummock area and
taken to the Dover Air Force
Base.
Surviving members of a Bowers 8
family that lost six children to
Tuesdays storm, huddled in stun
ned disbelief in Red Cross quar-
ters in Dover. Mr. and Mrs. John h
A. Waters made half-hearted r
plans to return to their home to t
assess the damage. v
But their thoughts were with Z
the perished children. Five of the +
children were drowned. A sixth is c
missing and presumed drowned. i
With the parents at the Red +
Cross shelter was John, Jr., 13.
In Kent General Hospital, is an h
other child, Alisa, 8, and Mrs. Wa n
ters' blind mother. Mrs. Mamie y
Wilmington, 81. Both were re =
ported in good condition today by !.
hospital dutnOr1L1eS. a
Mrs. Dorothy Thompson, Kent
County supervisor for the Red :
Cross, said clothing has been do {
mated to the Waters family. Their d
immediate need is housing" she U
said Il expect some arrangement
will be made today" 8
The Waters home is only 20 c
feet from the ST. Jones River and Il
near Delaware Bay, about 10 miles n
southeast of Dover. s.
Waters, Al, awoke Tuesday at Fl
5: 80 a. m. to find high water
sweeping across the lowlands. He Il
said the water was SO high by the v
time the family got dressed and il
into the car outside, he saw no ii
chance to drive away safely. He N
said the family sat awhile in the D
car, waiting for the tide to fall. d
Then he, his wife and John, Jr., n
finally made their way to an oys-
ter shucking house mounted on 6
stills. 4
Il was going to start back for y
the other children" he said, but =
my wife kept hollering that - -
wouldn't make it. l did have my :,
doubts" :.
The car, containing Mrs. Whit -
lingtOn and the seven youngsters, ~
was swept across the ground by Y
the force of tide and wave. A son, y
Eugene, z, tried to crawl from a 81
car window, but was carried away