Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 June 1885 — THE ELEMENTS. [ARTICLE]

THE ELEMENTS.

A Large Area of Texas Visited by a Rain-Storm of Unusual Destructiveness. Many People Drowned, and Immense - Damage Done to Crops and Other Property. [Waco (Tez.) special.] The violence of the late storms here are overshadowed by the rain and tornado of last night. The rainfall did not cease until this morning. All streams in and close to the suburbs of the city, the banks of which •- were dotted with hundreds of residences, overflowed aud transformed their surroundings into a vast sea. The scenes of terror and confusion were heartrending. People fled for their Jives from their homes in the midst of the raging storm. Thomas Denninghoff, his wife, and three small children, remained in their house,. which was washed away, and all were - drowned.

Howard Lewis, his wife, his sister, andii three small children lost their lives in a similar manner. Eleven persons are known to have perished and live others are unaccounted for, and reported to be drowned. The damage to property by the tornado* was immense. The total damage in the city is estimated at $50,000. The Brazos Biver rose two feet above high-water mark. The finest cotton plantations in Texas are located along its banks, and were submerged. The losses in McLennon County will - aggregate fully a quarter of a million dollars. The grain crop is destroyed—beaten to the earth by the wind and terrific rain. East Waco has been inundated since Sunday, and the scenes there last night and to-day were indescribable. Seeing that the waters of the Brazos Biver threatened them witn watery graves, the population—about two thousand persons—fled from their homes in the midst of the storm; aided in escaping by the light of the vivid lightning and hundreds of lanterns. No lives are repoited lost in that portion of the city. Belief measures have been organized for the suffering hundieds that are destitute and homeless. There were no trains on any of the roads to-day. Scores of bridges were swept away and the road-beds badly damaged by washouts. The highest point reached by the Brazos Biver was thirty-two inches above the high-water mark of the great overflow of last year. The approaches to the suspension bridge on the east side of the river were demolished. The estimates of the damage to property in and about Waco, do not include the damage to crops and farm property, which cannot now be estimated, but good judges place the damage to the growing crops at $500,000. The storm was so terrific tor three hours that it may be properly called a tornado, accompanied, by rain. Bain fell in blinding sheets, and was blown against the large buildings, producing a sound like the distant roar of Niagara. Everybody in the city was up all night. Many colored people thought a second deluge was upon them, and prepared themselves to go by vigorously praying.

At Iredell and Morgan, in Bosque County, a number of residences -were wrecked, but no fatalities are reported. Advices from Austin report that the Colorado River has overflown immense tracts of bottom landfc planted in cotton and corn. The damage to these crops will' be immense. Six small bridges on the International and Great Northern Railroad were swept away. All railroad embankments for nearly a hundred miles have been badly washed* lendering travel dangerous. Weatherford, Midlothian, Dublin, Marlin, and other points in the State report an. immense rain-fall, accompanied by heavy wind, vivid lightning, and deafening thunder. All tell the same story of swollen streams, submerged farms and fields, and general havoc to the growing grain. Farmers are greatly dejeeted over the outlook. The rains cover a very large wheat area. Crops were doing finely before the rains, but the rust will now certainly set in on the wheat,, and the weeds will grow so rapidly that the - yield of wheat will be reduced one-half.