People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 September 1895 — DELUGED WITH RAIN. [ARTICLE]

DELUGED WITH RAIN.

THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS FLOODED. Many Thousand Dollars’ Worth of Property Destroyed —Families Ke.cuetl by the Police- —Lightning Sets lire to Telephone Exchange. Indianapolis. Ind., Sept. 5. —As th? result of a veritable deluge which set Tuesday at 8 and coniiiim-.l until 7 o'clock yesterday, this city was flooded and thousand's of dollars' worth of property has been destroyed, besides the inconvenience of suspended streetcar transportation and telephone communication. The business portion of the city was soon flooded because of the inability of the sewers and streets to carry the water away. At 4 o'clock reports began coming into the station of great damage in various portions of the city. In the neighborhood of Pine atfd Washington streets a lake of water appeared, and no less than a dozen families had to be rescued by the police. The water in many of the basements along Washington and Pennsylvania streets was five or six feet deep. Many of these basements were used as salesrooms and the damage is very great. At daylight lightning started a fire in the Telephone Exchange building, corner of Illinois and Ohio streets, and the entire system was burned out, resulting in extensive loss. Several other fires were started by the storm, but were extinguished before material loss was sustained. Up to 7 o’clock yesterday the rainfall had amounted to 6.7 inches. At 8 o’clock the rain had ceased.

STORM AT ROCKFORD, ILL.. Heavy Rainfall and Many Fires Started by Lichtniti'r. Rockford, 111., Sept. 5. —The most severe electrical storm of the season passed over Rockford early yesterday, rain falling in torrents for several hours. The fire department was called out half a dozen times to extinguish blazes started by lightning. The residences of Hosmer C. Porter was quite seriously damaged by fire and water. The immense smokestack on the city railway power house was struck, toppling over on to the pleasure steamers Queen and McDermaid. smashing them almost to pieces. The barns of the Forest City Baking Company and a number of houses were more or less damaged by fire, resulting from the lightning. Much hail fell during the storm, which was in the nature of a tornado. Storm Swept a Hide Section. Chicago, Sept. s.—With terriffic force the wind and electric storm that held Chicago at its mercy Tuesday, swept over a large section of country, leaving destruction in ‘ its wake. Throughout Illinois, Missouri and Indiana the fury of the storm was greatest, and in some places bad all the elements of a hurricane. Much damage to property and to the crops is reported.