Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 May 1892 — CUT OFF BY THE FLOODS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CUT OFF BY THE FLOODS

OMAHA’S 810 BRIDGE PARTIALLY GONE. A Portion of the Great Union Pacific Structure Washed Out—No Trains Moving: East—Unprecedented Rain Storm Causes Great Alarm. Damagro by High Water.

HVH HE eastern approach J I ’ to the big Union ") |\ Pacific bridge over -* 1Y the Missouri at fl/ Omaha has, been '“m\ washed out, and there are fears that the entire structure will go. The river is rising rapidly, and all the lower portions of the city are under water, while igSj many small buildajp Ings situated on the H i river front have alalready floated away. * Tho washing away of the approach to

the bridge has put a stop to all trafflo, and it may be weeks before trains will again run from Council Bluffs to Omaha. If the river continues to rise the main portion of the big bridge will likely be carried away, as It has been greatly weakened by the washing out of the eastern approach. People are becoming greatly alarmed by the prospect of still higher waters, and residents of towns along the river are hastening to the higher ground. It has been raining furiously, with the result that the sewers and small streams have poured a flood of water Into the Missouri. The channel has lately switched to the western bank, and as that portion of the approach is formed by trestling filled In with earth and loose rock the current soon began to eat It away, All day long the gnawing at the filling had kept up, and in the evening It waß noticed that the approaches were beginning to totter. As a result all trains were held in Omaha. At 7:30 the bridge began to sway and crack, and a few minutes later with a roar and crash one span went whirling down the river, carrying with It the fixtures and equipments on that side of the bridge. A large force of men was hurried to the break, and carload after carload of rock Is being emptied in, In hopes of turning the current and saving the rest of the approach. The river surrounds the embankment of the Union Pacific for nearly a mile on either side, and it Is feared that the swift current may break through this bank and utterly ruin the bridge and roadway. In the city the flood has played havoe with the lowlands. All the squatters on the bottoms have been forced to flee for their lives. Most of their homes have been washed away and many more will go. The rainfall has been unprecedeptefl and much damage is expeoted on all sides! t No Prospect for Rellwf. . A Washington dispatch says: The threatening aspect of the olitlook for the Lower Mississippi Valley has deepened in the last.forty-eight hours. As regards the prospect for Intensity and duration of the Impending flood with the water now ini sight, matters stand about as follows: There has been a rainfall of 2.2 inches along the Missouri Biver from Kansas City to Pierre, and 2.5 Inches along the Arkansas from Fort Smith to Little Book. The rainfall in lowa, Missouri and Illinois and 'along the Upper

Mississippi averages over one inch. The present high stage of the Missouri at Kansas City—2l.7 feot, a fall of a foot since Monday—will be maintained for some time, and may even increase in the next throe days. The Upper Mississippi at Dubuque, with a stage of 10.9, has risen two feet in the last five days. At St. Loulb the very high stage of 36.3 feet prevails, there being a rise of five feet in the last five days. The rate of the rise has slackened. The prospects are that the rise will continue one foot more and a high stage will be maintained for some time. The Ohio has begun to rise, the stage at Cincinnati being 22.5. The present Ohio rise will not be of much importance. The Cumberland is at a low stage. At Cairo the river is at a stage of 41.8 feet, having risen 5.3 feet in the past seven days. The rate of rise at Cairo has fallen off in the past day. It is not expected the stage will go above 43 feet in the next two days. It will continue stationary, however, at the high stage, and it remains to be seen yet what will occur with the Missouri flood. Breach in the Levee Widening. Wednesday morning the Gypsy crevasse, near New Orleaqp, had widened out to such an extent that all hope of closing it was abandoned. The water is sweeping over the plantations to within a few miles of Kenner. About eight miles of the Mississippi Valley Bailroad track has boen covered and traffic over the submerged portion is abandoned. The location of the break is about twenty-five miles above New Orleans and two miles above where the great BonnelfCarre crevasse occurred in 1874.

WORK OF THE FLOOD AT OMAHA.