HomeMy WebLinkAbout1935 Brazos River Floodg
City C har17ON POST
he Board: W. 1' Monty
T e x a
Gro C 'restd , A. E. Manager:
V r •
P does, General Manager:
eredge. Managing Editor.
s er at the Houston, Texas,
T d ongress March 2, 1879.
and Dowling o Street. ntint: Dowling oStreet.ntint: ':
Texas.
Goodwill Party
Swollen River,
:NCH EXCHANGE,
REPRESENT /::
Trade Trir 's a• pew Yo
Thirty -four members n, he Houston
Chamber of Commereedv . d will party
bravos,. throe ricers ail cities lod
stage to 's., . ,.
Tuesday..
Meml`u" of the party managed to
pass r t r Brazos and Colorado
rivers so soot deto,ring on the way
up b ter fors. it to detour at Colum-
bus • r'tr. trip when it was
fo:u th Co'o; do had leaped its
has a' that point.
1 Coin . .ado ilsod waters were
• - ' ei c, . p on the highway east of
a., ( 'stains sloe and members of
i,a ty w „re :'Greed to detour by
y Aita:r, s• yen miles south of
Shepard Mourned.
„eed will party left Houston al
a. 'P "r'iesday and arrived in Bren-
Lerr a !1 s. m. to find that thriving
s shrouded in gloom over the
•'. °r. r I rank Shepard. 48, financial
edi' .r The Houston Post.
haepard was a native of Bren-
ha d grew to manhood in that com-
munity. W. W. Searcy, 75, an uncle
of Mr. Shepard and a resident of .
Brenham, and Mayor Reese B. Lock-
ett, both expressed their bereavement'
over the death of Mr. Shepard.
The Houstonians, headed by G. L.
Childress, chairman. G. W. Dentler,
chairman of the May trip, and T. W.
Archer. Chamber of Commerce official,
proceeded on to La Grange after leav-
ing Brenham.
On arriving in La Grange members
of the party were welcomed by Mayor
C. G. Robson and taken on a minor
tour of spots of historical interest.
Dlembers of the party had lunch in
Schulenburg and after a brief stop at
Weimar proceeded on to Columbus.
Water Rising.
Residents of Columbus said the
Colorado river at that point already
has reached the 31 foot flood stage
and said they believed the water still
was rising.
The good will trippers viewed the
raging waters from the Columbus
bridge and discussed the flood with
farmers. Those present said the water
already has flooded numerous farms
in the vicinity but indicated they be-
lieved the peak of the flood had been
reached.
The Colorado first poured over the
highway near Columbus Sunday and
since that time the water has risen
steadily until it now is about three
feet deep over the lowest portion.
Leaving Columbus members of the
good will party detourned to reach
Eagle lake and after a brief stop, pro-
ceeded on to Houston.
Other members of the good will par-
ty were : II. V. Baker Jr., David C.
Bintliif, George W. Browder, Hendrix
Davis. Herman Engle, .1. D. Eubank.
L. B. Everett, John Foster, J. M.
Grasty. James A. Haralson, E. L. Hn
gan, Neal Hostetter, J. W. Jackson.
W. J. King, John H. LeRoy, E. G.
McAlexander. George B. Meyer, J. IT.
Jamison, R. L. Murphy, P. T. Pearce,
Ed Rider, G. W. Rose, T. L. Saxen-
meyer, Ben Schnitzer, Lynn Squires,
.Toe Stephen, Jim Taggart, Herbert G.
Turner. R. C. Werner, Crawford Wil-
liams, 1). D. Peden.
FLOOD-
(Continued from Page 1.)
wag rising at the rate of half an inch
an h A 1,0(1 road fr tn. Nava 30ta to .,. 111..n na (!n , of
1 rapid. - r. t. !n e•han�' ^n
cont:tY. t
lie'• :. rrec Was y. 1
the Lyilchb” telly contaucrl
ate. Ferry operators sad -a .' -. of
averal more fort v 1 nessar
be?:ore the ferry would be discontinued.
The crest of the Biome rise passed
Valley .Tnnction, on the Milam and
Robertson county lines, early Tuesday
with the gauge registering 48,5 feet
as compared to 47 feet in 1922.
Highway Is Flooded.
C. E. Norquest, in charge of the
- Roust on weather bureau. issued a
'orec•ast Tuesday afternoon in which
're predicted the crest will pass Wash -
Ongton. in Washington county west of
Navasota. Thursday with a stage of
IS feet, would reach a stage of 45
'set at Hempstead by Friday and 38
'set at Richmond by Sunday or Mon-
day.
Inc the second time within 10 days
the Brazos left its banks Tuesday be-
tween East and West Columbia in
Brazoria county and flooded the high-
way there.
The backwater from the river stood
a foot deep for a mile along the high-
way east of East Columbia Tuesday
afternoon and was rising slowly. Traf-
fic was being routed by Rosenberg to
Houston. although sot ne cars were
crossing through the flooded section.
Opposite Bryan the river stage was
estimated at 46 feet Tuesday and still
rising. The crest was expected Wed-
nesday.
The inundated section from which
the farmers fled Monday and Tues-
day includes both banks of the river
for a distance of about 10 miles above
and 20 miles below Bryan.
Some Hope Seen.
The Little Brazos river, which
drains a basin northeast of Bryan,
also had overflowed Tuesday and for
many miles above the function with
the Brazos had spread across the area
of fertile bottom land which separates
the stream bells.
Some hope for an early lowering of
tl:a flood near Bryan was seen in re-
ports thnt the Navasota river. while
flooded, was not at an exceptionally
high stage.
During the 1929 flood the Navasota
poured a heavy stream into the Brazos
at Navasota, no miles south of Bryan,
and caused the Brazos flood to re-
main at a high stage upstream for
several days.
More than 1000 farmers and their
Dailies, most of them negroes, Tues-
ay had evacuated the threatened area
round Navasota.
':Zany of the refugees came into
vasota, but others stopped with
nits in the hills edging the bot-
.e highway between Navasota and
am was closed to traffic at noon :
y when the flood waters stood
es over the roadway on a dump
Washington.
e were that the dump was
n way as the current of the
'red out into the lowlands
nonf Weatherman Nor -
tra age on the Brazos
- ]ay was received
to fruesday as the
1 below that stage
of acres of farm
ited. Hempstead,
If water in 1922,
v a 45 -foot stage
gar Land area of
1 waters were
'ower sections
not expected
r Sunday.
chmond was
'do :12.2 Mon -
nesdny morn-
Stage.
er reached
sod stage
"redicted
Sunday
above
rssIssiS
added t
duced A
effr
•
that sloughs and cultivated areas of
the bottom and will be overflowed.
The flood waters already were
creeping out through creeks Tuesday
but all residents of the section had
been warned and those in exposed
places had sought safety.
At Angleton county workmen were
strengthening the levee which pro-
tects that town.
The county engineer's office of Bra -
zoria county said the predicted flood
stage on the Brazos will create a vast
lake from just north of Angleton to
the Fort Bend county line and above.
Raising Angleton I.evee.
The town of Angleton is not in
danger from the present rise but the
flood waters are expected to back up
to the levee west and north of the
town. Crews of workmen were as-
sembled Tuesday and sent out to raise
low sections of the levee and repair
any breaks.
Traffic on the Old Spanish Trail
west of Houston was being detoured
from by way of Rosenberg. Wharton
and El Campo to Cohn ns result
of flood water from the Colorado river
flowing across the highway three feet
deep just east of the bridge at Co-
lumbus.
In- While the Trinity river stood at or
's above flood stage from Riverside to
. the mouth of the stream, no interrup-
TEDNTS', MAY 22, 1
TRIM TY FLOOD" to 1 L1 S LI nIUNGRILY AT LOWLAND FARMS
•
ns
z Lenw r r o ¢* LDc
r THE H
t
tion of the traffic to East Texas was
reported Tuesday.
The crest of a rise which originated
above Dallas Saturday was sweeping
down the stream but the effect on the
lower reaches could not be predicted
Tuesday.
At I.onglake the Trinity river stage
Tuesday was 41.4 feet and flood stage
there is 40 feet. Riverside reported
41.8 Tuesday with flood stage 40 feet.
Both" repotted slight rises. At Liberty
the river stood slightly above flood
stage and will continue out of its
banks with slight fluctuations in the
water level for another week.
Expected at Columbus.
The Colorado crest was expected to
pass Columbus early Wednesday at a
stage of 33 feet, and to reach Wharton
by Wednesday night with a high mark
of :15 feet. The Colorado was re-
potted falling at Smithville and at n
standstill at 141 (;range Tuesday.
Veterans residents of the Columbus
section said they expected a rise of
about four feet over flood stage there
hut that no damage would be clone ex-
cept to hottomland farms unless an
additional two to four feet of flood
water arrives.
Highways from Eagle Lake to Gar-
wood and Altair were closed Tuesday
when water began to flow over the
dumps. Traffic east from Columbus
- was routed by way of El Campo and
Floodwaters of the Brazos and Trinity rivers Tuesday inundated thousands of acres of fertile farm lands in the i
Bryan, Navasota, Brenham and Crockett areas, causing heavy damage to crops and sending hundreds of lowland
dwellers scurrying to higher ground for safety. Upper right: Two horsemen are shown surveying what was left
of a promising cotton crop on the Hoppe plantation near Welborn just after dawn Tuesday. The waters of the
Brazos at this point rose steadily during the day. Upper left: Negro families driven from the lowlands near Bryan
Wharton. Highway 71 from the nor b
was not interrupted.
A party of good -will trade trippers
from Houston reached Columbus
Tuesday afternoon by way of Bren-
ham and La Grange.
Lowlands at Wharton were flooded
by baekwater from creeks but no se-
rious damage is expected either to the
town or to highways and bridges.
Trinity River Rising.
The Trinity river was still rising
in the Madisonville area and all farm
lands along the stream were endan-
gered by floods Tuesday night. Fam-
ilies in the river bottoms have moved
out and practically all stock that
could be found has been driven to
higher lands.
IN high flood peak at Clapp's
ferry the river at Black Bluff eremite('
out of its banks. swept over Madison
county bottom lands, destroying thou-
sands of acres of cotton and corn and
inundated practically two-thirds of all
farming lauds in the county. Tor -
rential rains put all lakes, sloughs
and creeks in the county out of their
banks which, pouring their waters into
the river, caused the river to burst
the levee at Black Bluff.
Near 1)anger Stage.
Within two feet of the dangernus
stage. the Red river north of Denison
was 23 feet and still rising. Farmers
in the lowlands were warned to with-
Pe'
s^t
lt,
draw to )hi7hcr ground. Hundreds of
acres already ever? under water.
lehita halls and Paris
HOT"' 1 f'r, 1 lied river within its
reported the their sections.
banks ac:un I -ett battery D. 131st
At ii ;rkt,nt Wichita Falls National
artillery of the ‘Wichita
guard at the
Guard unit, sl ridge and work soon
washed -our free 1)d on a temporary-
was to be ,,tart tang Oklahoma au-
bridge by Texas Ke will be ready for
thorities. The brit
traffic Sunday• crest moved out
The Trinity ri r „abed dykes at a
of Dallas and th of Gilmer, flood -
point four miles 'and. Seventy men
ing 2500 acres
l newrly dawn in an
had wort ed • i n n the dyke, but the
effort st ,1l :e,. ed aside sandbags
rushin.: V.”
a * cogs fields
and sty s"'. ".1+ ins 1 d concrete bridge
The ici s teel a ; :..er on High -
ui h .t rgr i'' of Nacogdoehes,
span
any l _ r • ,< W. Tuesday when
was d••! , n)r l „o' ", ,..,1 abutments. flood ..'t „ rs w
lni hw ay and the
\ \stern ilo,,.rd tl "•iv reports said.
creel i f • n r t t 1 rivers will suffer
hal tom t : i:`j in years as 8 re
their g "itte:t 1''-'',•ee overflow, said
suit of die Tri , :ty 'N in C ounty Agent
farmers wh gsth Farmers of Car -
A. R. J ^I:'r s nrttc'and southeast por-
roliton, Lat. estimated losses at
Lions of the r tr * ,f tbnutlande. More
many 11'-,ir_:e•
•
G4:
than 8000 acres of cotton. with an
estimated production of 5000 bales,
have been destroyed. Onion loss was
estimated at $100,000.
Families were evacuating homes in
the Red river bottoms near Clarksville.
Live stock had been removed, but farm
lands were under water. A gopher
burrowed through the flood gate at
Lake Clark, causing workmen to
strengthen the banks.
GUADALUPE REACHED
CREST AT CUERO.
CUERO, May 22.— (Sp) — The
Guadalupe river h a d apparently
reached its crest at Cuero Tuesday.
The high water gunge at the power
dam showed 26 feet two inches 'rues-
(Inv morning and the reading was the
same at 4 p. m. Additional water is
expected from the Kerrville sec'tioln
where heavy rains fell Saturday and
Sunday but local observers believe the
present flood stage will pass before
the new rise reaches this section. Be-
tween 5000 and tiO(N) selves were under
' water in DeWitt county Tuesday, it
was estimated by J. A. Oswalt. county
. farm agent. Crop damage, he esti-
mates, will exceed $50.000.
Approaches to all five river bridges
in the Cuero section were under water
Tuesday with only one crossing pass-
able. State highway department em-
K..
R elborn are shown In the boxcars where they slept after they fled from the floodwaters. Center right: Debris
and a Trinity river near Crockett. Center left: The swirling Brazos and a mass of debris floating down the stream
2
an Lower right: An excellent view of the main road to East Texas from the east end of the Trinity river
n jda at Trinity. Water was on both sides of the highway but had not covered the road late Tuesday. Lower
leN : f ' �e wide Brazos at Old Washington. The river at this point flows between the steepest banks In that sec -
is not expected to leave its banks, except in the lower regions. —Staff Photos by Jack Miller.
Hun am -
ployes were aiding motorists to cross
the bridge on highway 27, Luling to
San Antonio. The west approach to
this bridge was bailer one foot of
water.
of farm between ^
Geary, the main body of the swirling
red flood waters moved slowly toward
Oklahoma City Tuesday night.
"The crest will not strike Oklahoma
for e ither Forecaster the -
\Vahlgren.
Aerial surveys made by two crews
bore out his prediction, based on re-
ports from gaugers stationed along th
river banks.
A slow rise in the river here wa
noted, however, due to drainage o
areas between Oklahoma City and El
Reno. The river barely left its banks t
at a viaduct at the edge of the city
and was six in es from the flood
stage at Wheeler park, just inside the
city limits.
A large sewer litre across the river, t
used by Capitol HMI, a suburb, was rr aestar
sagging on its supports.
As Oklahoma City prepared to re- munity
ceive the North Canadian flood a newyve my
area demanded attention of reliefrays be
1 agencies when a hurried call for medi -es and
cal supplies was sent to the Red Cross South.
at Durant from a nearby valley flood -op I n am
ed by the Red siren
no request said 100 families face& a life
tha possible danger of contracting ty- pinion
phoid fever from drinking the brackish tntry-
water.
No illness had developed, however, . my
and the water began to recede Tines- out
day night. after inundating more than tton
1000 acres of growing crops and
drowning approximately 150 head of
cattle.
At its peak the river reached the
highest stage since 1025.
Streams in Northeastern Oklahoma
receded after reaching flood stage and
families were moving back `^ their
lowland homes.
FARMERS FLEE
HOMES IN FLOOD.
11 ><_, c' ii•,LP, Kan., May 22. —(W)
Floodwaters from the Arkansas and
M1nnescah rivers spread over lowlands
where they join north of Oxford Tues-
day, driving farmers from their homes
and causing a suspension of operations
in the Churchill oil field.
ARKANSAS RIVER
AGAIN ON RISE.
PONCA CITY, Okla., May 22.—
The Arkansas river here reached its
highest point this spring in a new rise
over=night. Several hundred acres of
lowlands were under water Tuesday,
but 1:1. S. highway 60, which crosses
the river here, was not in immediate
danger of being covered. A new rise
was feared due to rains in Kansas
Monday night.
RAIN SWELLS
KANSAS RIVER.
CHANUTE, Kan.. May 22. —(W)
A locally heavy rainfall here Tuesday
caused the Neosho river, which had
been falling, to rise 10 inches to a
height of 22 feet, again flooding low-
lands.
MEDICAL AID FOR
•REFUGEES URGED.
DURANT, Okla., May 22.— (fP) --
Medical aid for a hundred families in
a valley flooded by the Red river
southeast of here was asked of the
Red Cross Tuesday when it was feared
illness might develop unless the water
recedes soon.
The crest of the flood which
inundated the valley reached the af-
fected area Monday night, sending the
river to 29 feet at the Denison, Texas,
bridge, covering hundreds of acres of
fine crops and drowning many head of
cattle trapped on the Oklahoma side
of the river.
rat
Ave
STREAMS REACHING
CREST IN OKLAHOMA.
TULSA, Okla., May 22.—(R)—
Northeastern Oklahoma streams Tues-
day apparently had reached the crest
resulting from the latest rains and
had caused no extensive damage.
The Arkansas river rose to 12.15
feet during the night, the highest it
has been in eight years but still form`
feet short of flood stage. Tuesday
morning the level had receded to 1 t ,
frcti. Seve) 1 bbinattsr families' .,. "n3
-rise river banks had moved out when
the water backed into their homes.
At Miami, the Neosho river was at
a standstill after hitting a 15 -foot
level and overflowing Riverview park.
Little damage was done.
Rain continued over night in the
two districts. One - hundreth inch of
rain fell here early Tuesday morning.
At Miami there was one - eighth of an
inch of rain overnight and a light
drizzle falling Tuesday.
RAINS ENDANGER
ADOBE RESIDENCES.
TAOS, N. M., May 22. —(fP) -This
picturesque town, hemmed in by
mountains and peopled by the Taos
Pueblo Indians and an artist colony,
was endangered Tuesday by continued
heavy rains.
More than 200 families were home-
less as the pelting rain melted their
adobe houses to the ground or weak-
ened the homes so much as to make
them uninhabitable. The national
guard armory housed the homeless.
Governor Frank Tingley at Santa Fe
pledged every state aid possible, Dud-
ley Frank, 1i'ERNA administrator for
New Mexico, arranged for fuel to heat
the armory.
MILITIA GUARDS
LOUISIANA DAMS.
SHREVEPORT, I.a., May 22.—
(P)—National guardsmen were placed
on duty Tuesday in Natchitoches par-
ish, below here. in the Red river val-
ley flood where officials said threats
hnd been made to dynamite two dams
along the Cane river to release exces-
sive flood waters.
Members of the Natchitoches corn-
' pany of the national guard were called
to duty to guard the darns, one of
which is loeated at the juncture of the
Cane and the Red rivers. Officials ex-
plained the move was purely precau-
tionary, and was intended to prevent
any attempts at vandalism,
FLOOD SWEEPS
LOt TOWN.
c,llihIU 161 vil.T. La.. May 22.—
(R ) —Back water from Old River and
heavy rains combined to inundate the
town of Cypress, 15 miles south of
Natchitoches, Tuesday. The town
school was closed when it was flooded
a foot deep.
Houston Youth
, Struck by Truck
Clifford Amerson, 17, of 5003 Gib-
son street, was injured seriously late
Tuesday night when he was struck by
a truck while crossing the street in
the 3900 block of Washington avenue.
H. M. Moore, driver of the truck
reported the accident to police and
said that he was traveling at a moder-
ate rate of speed when the boy
stepped off the curb in front of his
300 FAMILIES truck. He said the accident was un-
WAIT EVACtiATI avoidable.
OKLAHOMA CITY, May 22.— A Heights Funeral home ambulance
(fP)— Resumption early Wednesday of removed the injured youth to Jefferson
the evacuation of 300 families from Davis hospital where he was found to
the Oklahoma City lowlands, halted by be suffering from a possible fracture
word the flood waters of the North of the skull and painful body bruises.
Canadian would not strike for 24 After first aid treatment the boy was
hours, was eagerly awaited Tuesday transferred to the Methodist hospital.
by the refugees who will exchange
squalid quarters for clean army tents.
• As erection of the tent community
on the grassy slopes of a city park
neared completion, officials in charge
of the removal ordered all workers en-
gaged in evacuating the threatener)
area to go home for the night, to re-
turn at t a. m. Wednesday.
At that hour. national guard trucks,
mud 50 army vehicles and fire trucks,
if they are needed. will swing into the AUSTIN, May 22.— (fP) —Dr.
community relief camp in the path of J ohn W. Brown, state health officer.
the threatened flood, and complete the Tuesday advised boiling of drinking
removal task started Tuesday. water in communities where water
Residents Urged
To Boil Water in
Flooded Areas
Death Toll 21. or sewage plants were flood dam -
As the flood threat here was delayed aged.
e day into the future. recovery of an Extra precautions should be exer�
Additional body in Texas brought to 21 P he the known Southwest death toll from .vas , not supervised d, if or waft s take n
floo and wind.
Sprawling over thousands of acretst from tshahow wells,
., -