Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 June 1901 — DEATH IN A FLOOD [ARTICLE]

DEATH IN A FLOOD

Mining Towns in West Virginia Wiped Out by Water. KEYSTONE WIPED OUT Elkhcrn Creek in Pocahontas Field Rages High Over Its Banks. Cloud burst Sweeps Valley Along the Norfolk and Western Railroad—Coal- ’ dale, KlkLurn and Many Other Places Are Washed Away Completely—Loss of Life Placed at 300 to 400 and Property Damage la Vast—A Horrible. Disaster. From 300 to 400 persons are thought to be drowned in a flood which swept through the Elkhorn valley from Ennis, W. Va., to Vivian, in the same State, between the hours of 9 o’clock and 11 Sunday morning. In the valley is located the celebrated Pocahontas coal fields. Nearly all the machinery and buildings were wrecked. The mining and railroad towns of Keystone was practically swept away anl the little town of Vivian nearly destroyed. North Fork Junction and other small towns suffered in like manner. Thirty miles of the Columbus division of the Norfolk and Western Railroad were washed away. Millions in Property Loss. The property loss will run into the tens of millions, but it will be many days before the real extent of the loss to life and property can be ascertained. The entire valley has been devastated and the loss to the Pocahontas coal region is enormous. The railway loss is also heavy, for the track and roadbed washed away was probably the most expensive piece of engineering work in the country for its length. The roadbed was almost carved out of solid rock, and only last year $1,000,000 was spent in betterments. It had been raining hard for several days in the Elkhorn region, and the hundreds of small mountain creeks were swollen to their full capacity ahd pouring their waters into the Elkhorn river. Early Saturday morning the heaty downpour of rain became more noticeable, and it was accompanied by a severe electric storm, which violently increased in volume and continued for several hours. The storm continued throughout the entire day arid night. Saturday toward noon the rain ceased, but the heavy storm clouds hung over the valley, threatening every moment another downfall. The clouds held back, however, until about midnight, when the rain again began to fall.

Cloudbnrat Adds to Terror. The storm increased ip violence every minute and finally culminated in a cloudburst which precipitated a great volume of water into the Elkhorn valley, already flooded to the danger point by the rains of the preceding forty-eight hours. The great mass of water started down the valley with a roar that was heard above the storm. It swept everything before it—trees, telegraph poles, huge bowlders, whole buildings, railroad ties, steel rails, box cars, and coal sheds. Into the mass of tangled wreckage of the flood were swept helpless men, women and children, caught in its path, and as all were swept along in the fury of the ■torm they went to their death with none to hear their last cries for help. Building* Float Away. The valley was peopled almost entirely with miners and their families. Th't ir frail cabins and cottages offered no resistance to the impact of the flood and ■the buildings were tossed upon the front of the great wave which was rushing down the valley. There was no chance for escape for the unfortunate people, caught without warning. The flood began to make its terrible force felt at Ennis, and it extended the entire length of the valley to Vivian. As the crow flies the distance is fifteen or sixteen miles, but by the tortuous path of the river it is thirty-five. The Elkhorn valley at this point is a great gorge, cutting its way through the mountain range. It is a mile wide at one place and then it narrows to a width of only 300 feet. At its narrowest point its rocky walls rise to a height of from 700 to 1,000 feet. It was through this gorge that the storm tore its way. The great wave of water which swept everything Before it wrought its destruction in a few minutes. In twenty minutes it was all over but the desolation.