Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 June 1902 — HEAVY STORM IN WEST. [ARTICLE]

HEAVY STORM IN WEST.

lowa, Illinois and Sooth Dakota Bifftr from Cloudburst*. A tornado, coupled with a rainfall unprecedented in the State, swept over lowa' Friday and caused immense damage to Des Moines and several other adjoining counties. One death is reported and many persons are seriously injured, while the property loss will be several millions. The crops have suffered fearful damage and the railroads throughout the State had to suspend traffic until the washed-out tracks were repaired. The rainfall was the heaviest recorded in the history of the weather bureau. At half a dozen different places the storm was nothing short of a cloudburst. Considerable stock was drowned. At Clarinda the rainfall was 5.24 inches, at Carroll 3.16 inches, in Des Moines 2.15, at Ogdon 2.07, at Marshalltown 1.77. Hardly a town in the State reports less than one inch and a half. At Marshalltown rivers and creeks nr* bank full and low lands are inundated. Bomford Langdon, a 9-year-old boy, fell into the swollen current of Linn creek, three miles from town and was drowned.

From Clinton it is reported that destruction to the growing crops on thousands of acres of land on Rock river bottoms has resulted from ; >rflow of Rock river, which went on .. .page and covered thousands of acres of the best farming land along that valley. Carroll County, 111., was visited by the second disastrous tornado in throe years. A heavy storm came up from the southwest and descended upon tke country estate of George N. Melendy, one of the finest in York township, and in two minutes three new barns and a number of other buildings were in kindling wood. From there the cloud jumped eighty rods to Jenks Melendy’s, where it badly wrecked his residence, and next struck the farms of Timothy Dunshee and \V. E. Shoemnker, wrecking barns, then unroofed the Baptist Church and tore one end out. The loss will foot up to $25,000. A cloudburst is also reported to liav* fallen in Chadwick.

Near Satina, Ivan., Joseph Bass and L. It. McDowell, farmers, were drown; ed while trying to cross swollen creeks. The Smoky Hill river is ton feet above its usual height. The greatest storm that has visited that section for years descended on Mitchell, 8. D. A violent windstorm was followed by rain that fell in torrents for an hour and the streets were turned into running rivers. Seven inches of water fell during the hour. Hundreds of trees were blown down and many buildings more or less damaged.