Show GREAT CHEAT HAVOC WROUGHT BY VIRGINIA FLOOD loss of life placed alv property io loon I 1 ery great A cloudburst in the pocahontas roca hontas flat top region near nine fields west virginia sunday details of which are yet icorn incomplete caused a loss of seventy five lives and the destruction ot of a milion dollars worth of 0 property th the e duration of the storm was brief and in less than an hour nearly two inches of water fellon fell on mountain moun tRin tops easland east and west of tile the valley converging tile waters in a narrow region and causing untold disasters the little town of keystone with willi a population of about 2000 seems the greatest sulT suf feier eier practically the entire tow being washed ivus heil away this town is the principal one in the roca boca bentas coal fields and is located near its center it was to a great extent the headquarters from which tile the mining population purchased supplies and va also the only place in the field where whisky could be purchased at this place there were some soine twelve to fifteen saloons all of which were washed away the report comes that the mining milling population are now occupying tile alie banks of tho the stream below catching the merchandise and barrels of liquor and beer as they float down A great number of coal and coue coke plants throughout the pocahontas roca hontas liontas district lis are arc reported practically destroyed and are in some instances entirely va shed away owing to the very high water which has flooded the region 11 and nd prevented communication any thin like a correct estimate of i the loss of property is impossible fifty dead bodies have lieen been found thousands of people ate aie lio s and it is feared that many tire are without food or at tile the best with only food enough to last a few ilnyo tile the work of establishing railroad communication is being pushed with vigor there is little hope of sending the sufferers succor or until railroad connection is restored men are at work clearing away the debris and recovering the bodies of the dead over miles of track belonging to the various coal operations are practically lost the rails are bent bud and twisted like ches even tile heavy girders of the collapsed railroad bridges were rendered useless the force of the flood is better understood when it is explained that by reason of a long fill and a low iron bridge some distance up the valley the hood flood was damned and a monster body of water accumulated probably as large a volume as was contained in the famous dam at johnstown when this obstruction gave way it let down a great flood on the villages and mining camps below the storm ats accompanied by L a terrific thunderstorm and much damage was caused by lightning |