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N0KFQ > TODAY 30.05.15 16:31l 54 Lines 2305 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 57293_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - May 30
Path: IW8PGT<IW7BFZ<I3XTY<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 150530/1430Z 57293@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.63
1927
Waters of Kentucky River peak
On this day in 1927, the Kentucky River peaks during a massive
flood that kills 89 people and leaves thousands homeless.
Torrential rains caused this unprecedented flood.
An account from the Mountain Eagle newspaper out of Whitesburg,
Kentucky, in Letcher County, provides a detailed look at the
disaster:
The flood hit just after 11 o'clock Sunday night, and within a
few minutes the whole camp of the Consolidated Fuel company was
under water. The house in which Brent Breeding and his family
were living was swept against the railroad trestle and then
crushed to pieces. Not a plank of it is to be seen there now. All
of the members of the family were saved except a five-year-old
girl. The body has not yet been recovered.
Jimmy Higgins, superintendent, says that he heard at 11 o'clock
that his sub-station was on fire and started up Smoot creek to
see about it. The rain became so hard that he turned back and
climbed the hill to his home overlooking the depot there. A
prolonged flash of lightning showed him that the camp already
flooded. He rushed back down the hill and began to direct the
rescue work. They had to chop into the roofs of some of the
houses to get the occupants out, for the water from below had
trapped them. Swimmers went in at the risk of their own lives and
carried out occupants. One home had thirteen children, all of
whom were saved.
This flood had a serious long-term impact on the communities of
the region: 12,000 people were left homeless and men were out of
work for months as the mines in which most worked had to be shut
down. As with most floods, it was the flooding of small streams
rather than a major river that caused the most deaths. Major
rivers that flood can cause serious property and agricultural
damage, but do not usually cause deaths because it takes more
time for them to flood, usually providing ample warning to people
nearby. Smaller rivers and creeks tend to flood suddenly when
inundated by local storm bursts; the sudden waves of water that
kill people usually come out of these smaller rivers.
Floods are the deadliest weather phenomenon in the United States,
causing about 140 deaths annually.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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