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Show Relentless Flood Waters Invade Southland ; MAMY VILLAGES, FARMS BURIED UNDER TURBULENT MISSISSIPPI Rain, Snow Forecast as Crews Labor on Levees By Associated Press Flood waters of the north, Unrelenting after a $400,000,-000 $400,000,-000 scourge of the Ohio river valley, began a plundering invasion in-vasion into the heart of the deep south today. Scores of villafee and countless farms alone the SOO-mile stretch from Cairo, ML, to Memphis, Tenn swam deep In the rislnr yeUow tide of the Mississippi, fed at a rate of nearly 1,000,000 eubio fret per second by the falling Ohio. The crest was still to come now fcovsrlnr just above Paducah, Ky. Anxisty deepened in the beleaguered be-leaguered oity of Cairo a sunken island 'Citadel 60 feet below the liver as the waters crept amlnous-.ly amlnous-.ly higher. Flood Creeps Higher , Silently, through the night, the aebris-mierea tide incnea upwara, reaching a stags of M.t feet almost al-most to the point reached before . the Birds Point-New Madrid "fuse plug" was dynamited to save the, city. A new three-foot bulwark of sandbags, topping the 60-foot sea wall, lent some comfort to the 5000 . remaining Inhabitants. It was still to be tested, however, and the river was only 1 feet below the top of the concrete walL Army engineers predicted a crest . of 62 feet Ranging southward from Cairo, a pick-and-shovel army of 100,000 tolled like beavers to fortify the billion-dollar levee system that guards the rich cotton delta lands along the Mississippi. The slow surgs of the flood, gathering enormous pressure from the bloated Ohio, spread over new territory last night and today. Villages Under Water The pilot of a plane returning to Memphis after an aerial survey of the Cairo-to-Memphia danger sons, reported whole villages under water. The village of Tomato, Ark., was reported eaves-deep in muddy flood-waters. flood-waters. Most of the 300 residents perched In barn lofts, in attics and in second-story rooms waiting to be rescued or determined to "stick it ut" United States coast guard cutters shuttled up and down the restive waters on "picket duty" to watch for weak spots or new breaks in the levees. Warned of Impending danger, new hordes of refugees streamed from the low-lying marginal mar-ginal lands along the Mississippi. Tsnt cities sprang up on highlands high-lands and ridges 30 miles from the river to houss temporary "orphans of the flood." At Barton, near Helena, Ark, a single concentration concentra-tion camp received 15,000 refugees. Tsn additional centers were spotted. Thousands of others were removed te east Arkansas cities and to Memphis. , And last night In the darkness, round the red-flaming campfires, voices lifted in- prayerful, hysteria-touched hysteria-touched song: "River, stay "way from my door." All Levees Holdings Every levee throughout the Mississippi Mis-sissippi system was holding today and U. a army engineers predicted predict-ed they would continue to hold, barring the unexpected. In Little Rock. Ark, Governor Carl E. Bailey declined eastern offers of-fers of help, declaring Arkansas wants to fight Ks own flood battle with aid only from ths U. a army and Red Cross "until we are completely com-pletely licked." Memphis, safely perched on the . (Ooatlmwd ee Pace Twe) (CoMima Tw Many Villages, Farms Buried Under Turbulent Mississippi until next week. While the engineers engi-neers were prepared for any eventuality, even-tuality, Ceneral Malin Craig, U. S. army chief of staff, said quallfiedly he expected Mississippi dikes would hold. He based his belief on the expectation ths levees will hold at Cairo and no abnormal floods develop de-velop In tributary rivers. While some predictions were made that ths flood crest an the (Continue trass Pese Sjm) Chickasaw bluffs, hummsd with warlike activity today as more thousands of refugees streamed into the city. Health hasards mounted. One out of every 10 refugees auffered from aickneas Influsnaa or pneumonia. Weary physicians redoubled their efforts, needling typhoid and other vaocines into thousands who volunteered volun-teered for treatment in the fight against plague. Five mothers and tt babies were harbored In the Juvenile court building. Ten expectant mothers waited for their "flood babies' In another makeshift hoepltal Meanwhile, assured that the worst waa past stricken communities In middle western states pushed plans for rehabilitation, aided by state and federal governments, and the care of the homeless. These vio-tlms vio-tlms of the disaster numbered 1,-0SB.000. 1,-0SB.000. latest estimatee said, with Mississippi would be considerably under first expectations, Lieutenant Lieuten-ant Colonel Eugene Reynold, directing direct-ing operations at Memphis, went ahead with plana to protect the levees lev-ees against a flood of water the equivalent ef 62 feet on the Cairo gauge. Bain, Snow Forecast Above Cairo the only possible threat to gradual return to normalcy normal-cy appeared to be the weather. Rain and snow was forecast but it was not expected to change the altua-Uoa altua-Uoa appreciably, and Walter Mox-om, Mox-om, the weather bureau's flood forecasting fore-casting expert, said the worst of the flood in the Ohio valley had past A Herculean task was Involved In restoring the towns along the Ohio waterfront from Pittsburgh to Cairo and government agencies developed a broad rehabilitation program with provision for placing about 200,000 persona on relief rolls. The handmaidens of disaster-hunger disaster-hunger and disease caused concern con-cern in many cities. Supplies of food and medicine were rushed into the area and drastic measures were considered to stop the spread of disease. Soldiers and police guarded against looting. 230 dead. Property loss estimates were $400,000,000. Danger points along ths 1000-mile front between Cairo, 111, where the Ohio spills Into the Mississippi, and the Gulf of Mexico were at Mew Madrid, Ma: Hickman, Ky and Mallwood, Ark, g miles below Helena. Hel-ena. Like a fort In military siege, 4000 men battled behind a 60-foot seawall sea-wall to save Cairo, southern Illinois shipping center, from the oncoming flood crest Most of the city's 12.000 population had flsd te safety. Several days ago engineers "pulled the stopper" in the great 121,000-acre floodway below Cairo to ease the pressure against the seawall. sea-wall. Last night they dynamited another hole to relieve the pressure on a setback levee near Mew Madrid. Ma-drid. Mo. Thousands of refugees who lived In the inundated area camped along the Missouri border hoping- Cairo and southeast Missouri's "boot heel" would be saved from engulfment E vacua tlsa Osenpteeeel As 600 men labored te strengthen the levee near Mallwood. Ark, evacuation evac-uation ef 100,000 threatened acres of farmlands waa completed. Another An-other crew was at work repairing the levee at Hickman. The big test ef the government's billion-dollar flood control system along tha Mississippi will not come . |