Show FLOOD RISIS CRISIS C MADE NEW HER EROE backstage scenes revealed courage and resourceful resourcefulness SS 0 f t 1 I 1 workers in rescuing sufferers e by ALWYN W KNIGHT mummie bummie Mum it was an un wail wheres mie THE HE sound rose to a T mistakable cry for help shrill with mounting hysteria the woman paused wheeling toward the abandoned house from which the sound had come an arm brassard bearing the emblem of the red cross ident identified ifield her told her business here in the desert deserted cd street running knee deep with mu muddy addy water this entire section of residential pittsburgh looked as though it had been floated out to sea wheres where s mum miel mie it was a scream now there was no time to lose the relief worker plunged to the rescue and reappeared a moment later with a parrot a badly scared talking parrot in her arms behind scenes with americas relief agencies changes the complexion of a flood the human little incidents tell the real story humor pathos and inevitably a quiet heroism do not penetrate the daily barricade of headlines this Is especially true of this springs great eastern floods which have taken a toll of nearly lives caused property damage scaling to one half billion dollars and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes in 13 states the runoff from un seasonal snow banks started it ice floes gorging miles of the great waterways broke froze and broke again the potomac the Andro androscoggin g in the ohio at A AMA n xv 4 A red led cross volunteers house feed and care for homeless children in pittsburgh flood area and the susquehanna these and other turbulent giants began be an to shake themselves loose and come alive without saying much about it people began to wonder what would happen if it should rain hard and the department of rivers and floods at the united states weather bureau washington gion spent a lot of time on the phone answering questions JOHNSTOWN threatened and then the rain came delli deluging ging the northeastern watershed converth con converting in melting snow into runaway water b by y the to ton n smashing river ice fee free of banks Surelia surcharged rg ed rivers from maine to virginia and an d from new jersey to ohio broke bank johnstown was threatened with a duplication of the debacle of 89 pittsburgh was isolated 0 overnight ver night its I 1 light and power disrupted its airports suddenly vast lakes wheeling W va was struck with such devastating suddenness that marooned men women and children were trapped as water pyramided pyra organized relief took the field led by the american red cross which quickly deployed SOO trained disaster work workers ers to key points of flooded areas the united states coast guard sent a fleet of power boats to churn up and down the main streets of americas most densely populated centers countless other organizations and groups group S pooled resources to avert a major ra ajor tragedy but the press of the nation has already given a composite picture of flood details day after day headlines paced the southward flow of each crest the real reaf story however has been told it has come in snatches from the lips of the men and women who were there who still are it has been told in part by volunteer worl workers cers b by y trained workers by the rank and file f ile of the great army of rescue WANTED TO DIF DIE it happened at springfield mass blass rising water trapped a family of three there wa was s a woman who weighed pounds her ninety six year old grandfather and her husband the circumstances were unusual in this way these people had had time to move out but they wanted to die to the woman bedridden bed ridden three years with a broken hip the flood meant lasting pence red cross workers evacuating families from the cites danger spots reached their home the woman would not budge her husband grimly determined ter mined ned stood guard before her barring the way it was necessary to knock the husband out to get the woman into tile the rescue boat after she was taken to a hospital she went on a hunger strike the husband meanwhile had disappeared fearing arrest several days passed and the woman began to weep tor for her husband for the first time she was receiving 0 medical care and life was worth holdin holding on to the red cross located the miss missing husband and a touching reunion took place at the side of the cot in the hospital ward the wo woman M an will be give a new start in life during the first flood crest the coast guard cutter kenosha under capt henry rogers was rammed by a log in the ohio during a blinding blizzard the cutter loaded with relief supplies part 0 of a day st alkin and sheds shed 1 ll 11 laid S beryle e tude of th these ese people the f they I 1 had lost everil w as renia could joke every everything thin abo about ut their ff let two rl am residents 8 of kimn are dead they coS 91 contra while acted engaged in 1 SP poet volunteered dolunt L re their sers corli plight ot of their belge el services to S tl 4 and paid f for r t their ir sl arii tb I 1 arois lives the des I 1 tion III also be of 1 0 ree one I 1 te 11 math 3 0 THOUSANDS NEED with flood HEL crests rece receding dInIO individual tr to family becomes becomes ent more it Is no longer I 1 ment alent by terror colored by T ex there thin thing almost may aa be h 0 in majestic about immersed to its gabl gableau I 1 straining against raging tor to home a has a ghostlike ghost like a halt elgh and dry look when drained away the va at furniture is mud warped and b 1 and silt a are e pled piled feet fettik dt once choice P belongings pa p aa flaked away mess below walls have hav b bi plumbing be and electrical fixtures fix at turee ur 4 relegated relegate to the j junk pile wonder that hat flood out we the resources must be hel rd U future the red crow i that in wheeling alone 1 5 f will require some form of hou ha goods or home repair assistant an expectant mother at pot poi point ohio was in desperate c essential supplies she lay jay ou on tress in a dance hall in the mag a 75 other refugees lamplight dimly arli and couples moved ski ibo floor not in the dance but ti warm the point was practically practical somehow a relief truck through from wheeling essentials tor for the stricken clen wo won little later she gave birth to a both lives doubtless saved by I 1 dogged persistence of relief relle fir who traversed impassable what had bad once been ro roads ad s the united states D coast t gar cued persons from wilkes and kin kinston kingston ston homes the 5 lianna hanna loops here and good ag i spilled across oss at right angles d the loop there resulted rone swiftest and most treacherous erona ca ever encountered by small crak craft the red cross chapter it at T barre pa established a N hi station in a trolley car placed ctet it end of the market street brid baldi ge made de light and heat possible were in charge aided by cross nurses and the chapter fi crew of 45 men As coast guard brought SS refugees to the arwa were inspected then either e thera hospital or trea treated led on the ht trolley rolle U quiring ir ing t medical attention atten tio j the flood is 0 over ver river 10 Z 11 I 1 I 1 V x isi 4 1 T t M zvy A T Z W t ned into gin mcclure avenue presbyterian church pittsburgh 1 tr I 1 refugee station t was bound for powhatan ohio the crew stuffed the ja jagged t ed tear in the hull with bla blankets lifets keeping the vessel afloat for eight hours until a second cutter pulled alongside and pumped the kenosha out sufficiently to shore and patch her PEOPLE RETAIN HUMOR when flood waters sideswiped side swiped hadley mass homes and outbuildings buildings out were swept downstream sheds and roadside stands were tumbled end over land end for nearly a mile citizens of the community formed a posse to hunt their dwellings and spent the better all 31 3 1 their ballas leefor bound for car lire ai and ad shelter stations day all alles ese ively fo just n has h but 5 rehabilitation orl f 1 tilt li long weary mon I 1 fr for fo I 1 india adua I 1 will interview 7 ha god dho horn 10 a A sl urvey survey dam daniaS of cattel cat Is breaking rt fl flood of the t 90 J the version in th 0 will I 1 live idt los jos t tl of t families who live thi th rest S I 1 1 k possessions wi their forget fose til USIA world so on NOW s t 1 B western 1 |