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Show CCC Enrollee Loses life In Flood Thurs. On Arizona Strip FLASH As we go to press the report is turned in L superintendent Thompson that the body of Ralph Lewis . ha9 been found at Mesquite, Nevada. Local officers found it thre, lie said, ' The body of Ralph Lewis, i war old CCC camp boy who was drown in a flash flood on the ' trfiona strip south of St. George, "caused by a cloud burst last Thursday at about 10 a. m., but had not been found. Altho the entire CCC camp searched the 1 stream bed five times, no trace ! of the body could be found, according ac-cording to D. M. Thompson, sup-; sup-; erintendent. i The accident occured when the truck driven by Mr. Lewis, stalled ! jo the wash. At the time that he drove into the wash there was aproximately two feet of water flowing through and, according ac-cording to those who were present pres-ent the flood rose from that to i raging stream between six and eight feet deep. At the time of the accident there were two other boys on the truck with Lewis, the other eleven had gotten off the truck ' before it entered the wash. One of the boys was able to jump to the shore where he was pulled op by his friends, the other stayed with the truck until the water turned it over, being washed wash-ed under and the truck going over the top of him. This lad was able to . swim ashore and was pulled out. The boys report that they followed Lewis for approximately ap-proximately a quarter of mile in aci aad-?evor to rescue him be-' be-' lore he finally disappeared. At the height of the flood the water was deep enough to almost completely com-pletely cover the truck. This wash is normally dry, but was filled with water for a period of nearly seven hours following the flood. Superintendent Thompson had sent the group in to town because it was raining where they were forking. At the time they left tor town, there was no water in ' the wash where the flood occured, ' he says. He had stopped at Mo-1 Mo-1 ciac spring to see just how the f rains had affected the work done there, when the cloudburst started start-ed that caused1 the flood. Mr. Thompson states that it rained nearly three inches in about thirty minutes. He bases the amount on the fact that the rain overflowed the storage tank at the spring, which was nearly three inches from being lull hen he arrived there. That inexperience with the flash floods of these western states was the reason for his getting caught in the flood, is (Continued on page five) CCC DEATH (Continued from first page) the belief of those who investigated investi-gated the case. An extensive search of the Virgin river and banks was made by Antone Prince and his deputies, dep-uties, but to date the body has;, not been found. |