Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 May 1890 — SUBMERGED BY WATER. [ARTICLE]

SUBMERGED BY WATER.

Deplorable Condition on the Mississippi— Bayou Sara Under Water. ~ The levee at Bayou Sftra, La., gave way on the evening of April 21. Bayou Sara is flooded. The town is in ruins. The levee broke at 12:30 Tuesday morning and every building is more or less under water. It is believed no lives were lost. The people saved absolutely nothing and many reached the hills clad only in their night clothes. Crevasses are reported in every direction around the ill-fated town. A southern gale is driving the gulf waters into Lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain. This city is not yet materially affected.

In accordance with the request of Representative Coleman, of Louisiana,Secretary Proctor has transmitted tb the House a report of Quartermaster General Robinson in regard to the condition of affairs in the overflowed district of St. James and As oension parishes, Louisiana. Genera he went to White Hall and Convent, St. James parish. Convent is at tho lower edge of the great Nita crevasse; White Hall is above, and is further back in the valley. Below, at Convent, except near helevees, everything is flooded for about teu miles down. He says the situation is deplorable, and hundreds of planters have lost their crops, while thousands of laborers will soon be thrown out of employment. At Grande Point, where there were probably sixty to eighty families, the people escaped in skiffs, and the whole precinct is under water. Opposite the levee break at Nita numerous poor white and colored people lost all but their lives. He recommends instant action tending to the relief of the sufferers by the United States. There is liable to be in St. James and St.. John and Ascension parishes a total of 5,000 persons destitute within a month.