Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 January 1907 — OHIO RIVER FLOOD. [ARTICLE]

OHIO RIVER FLOOD.

HIGH WATER CAUSES HAVOC THROUGHOUT VALLEY. Greateat Deluge Since ISS4 Reported at Cincinnati—Other Cities for 400 Miles Along River Sustain Heavy Damage. The Ohio River has overflowed its banks for more than four hundred miles, thousands of people are suffering for the necessities of life, and thousands more are homeless. All indications point to the greatest flood since that of February, 1884. In Cincinnati all school buildings and cliurches in.the East End were opened as temporary homes for the persons who own, homes and whose homes were invaded by the river.' The street car lines in both the East and West Ends and in the suburbs on both sides of the river were crippled. About two thousand people on a hill known as Turkey’ Ridge, in the East Eiid, were isolated by the flood, which. cut them off from the mainland. The regular packet service between Louisville and Cincinnati, which has - not been interrupted for years, was given up, the steamers being unable to pass under the bridges. The Federal government withdrew several boats running south, owing to the difficulty of making landings. It is estimated that 10,000 people were forced to move from their homes. In manyplaces furniture was packed in the streets, with no protection from the heavy rain. The greatest flood known in twenty years is devastating the towns and country. It is impossible to place an accurate estimate on the damage that has been done already. Every town along the river is suffering from crippled communications, limited fuel supply and a shortage of food, and thousands of men are idle because the flood has cl«*ed factories and stopped practically all industries. Repetition of the disastrous flood of April, 1898, tn which twenty-nine people were drowned, was feared at Shawneetown, 111. As a result of the flood in the Ohio River, the dike which protects the city broke and the water rose

so high above the level of the city that serious* Consequences were considered unavoidable. Shawneetown lies in an elbow of the Ohio River and protected by a dike on the east and south from the water. When the river is in flood the surface of the water is from six to eight feet above the street level in the lower part of the town. During the previous flood the lower part of the town was under water for several days and a heavy property loss was the result. The dikes were repaired after this calamity, and it was believed that they could withstand anv Sftage of water which might prevail in the river. 1 Flood conditions were ijejtorted all over eastern Kentucky.