Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1896 — COLORADO FLOOD VICTIMS. [ARTICLE]

COLORADO FLOOD VICTIMS.

Twenty-nine Persona Known to Have Been Drowned. The cloudbursts in the fool hills west of Denver Friday night, resulting in floods in which twenty-nine people are known to have perished, was followed Saturday afternoon by another terrible storm, the like of which has seldom been seen. At Morrison, seventeen miles from Denver, in the foothills, whore twenty-two persons were drowned in the flood Friday night, people were terror-stricken when they saw the second storm approaching. Hail began to fall soon after 1 o'clock. The storm kept on with steadily increasing force till nearly 4 o’clock, when a black cloud of unusual density began to gather in the vicinity of Mount Vernon, a few miles from Morrison. Then the cloud burst, and in an instant a wall of water came down the gulch fully six feet deep. Everything in its path was carried away. The raging torrent carried along with it houses, barns and debris of all kinds. Morrison is indeed a stricken city. The dead number twenty-nine. Numerous parties from Denver, camping out at Evergreen. Idlewild. Idledale and other places in the mountains near Morrison are safe. Many hairbreadth escapes and thrilling rescues are reported. Damaging floods have also swept down the valleys in some of the Eastern States. The general CbWditions throughout the Monongahela valley is critical. In many places the rains were the heaviest known in twenty-five years. The Ohio valley will experience a flood its entire length. Reports from West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio show al] the tributaries of the Ohid’river overflowing their banks. The damage to railroads and other property is general and very great. The wheat and crops that were in shock are generally ruined. The loss on highway bridges and the railroads is the heaviest ever known in the Ohio valley.