Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 95, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1904 — CLOUDBURST KILLS 200. [ARTICLE]

CLOUDBURST KILLS 200.

San Juan del Monte, a Suburb of Manila, Is Completely Destroyed. Two hundred lives were lost and $2,000.000 worth of property-destroyed by a cloudburst at San Juan del Monte, a suburb of Manila. The cloudburst followed an unprecedented rain which continued for twenty-four hours, during which time seventeen inches of water fell. San Juan was almost entirely destroyed by the floods which swept down upon it from the hills, coming so swiftly that hundreds of the residents were unable to escape. The surrounding country is under water and the natives are fleeing to the hills for safety. San Juan del Monte ia a small town west of Manila and- lies betweefi the hills and the seashore. The town is in the path of the water that runs down from the hills during the rainy season, but this rainfall was unprecedented. While the natives were preparing to flee to the hills in safety, and carry ns much of their property as possible, the cloudburst occurred in the hills, causing a flood that swept down upon the little town with such violence and swiftness that two hundred persons were drowned.