Loss to Corn Crop
Standing in Fields or Shocked in Bottoms Will be Great. . . Catawba Rises
Rapidly but Most Destruction Was by Small Streams in the County.
Catwaba river and its various tributaries overflowed their
banks last night and today as the result of the heaviest rainfall since July
1916, when this section was cut off by wire and rail from the rest of the state
and millions of dollars in property damage and hundreds of lives were lost
throughout the western half of the commonwealth. The damage last night and
today fell harder on the farmers than any other class of citizens, and in this
case was confined mostly to corn that had not been gathered in the bottom
lands.
The rainfall from Thursday night until 8 o’clock this
morning was 6 ¼ inches. It sent every stream roaring out of its banks, but the
danger passed when the streams began receding last night. The South Fork alone
was reported as not having reach the flood tide near Col. G.M. Yoder’s this
morning, Mr. Enloe Yoder reporting that the water covered every stalk of corn
in the bottoms. The damage is estimated at 50 per cent to corn, but if the
water recedes quickly, and the sun comes out soon, much of the corn can be
salvaged.
Water also rose high at Mr. R.L. Shuford’s place, the water
flooding his dairy barn. Mr. Shuford had gathered all his corn from bottom
lands and sustained no material damage.
The South Fork flooded the weaving room of the Brookford
Mills to a depth of six inches, depositing a lot of sand and dirt on the floor,
and carried away much coal and wood.
The surface water caused slight damage to the Granite Falls
Cordage Company’s plant near Granite Falls, the big storm pipe under the mill
being unable to carry off the water and causing it to undermine the wall. Here
the damage was not great. Gunpowder creek was on a boom but caused no damage to
either mill there.
Messrs. A.A. Shuford Jr. and G.H. Geitner went to Granit
last night and on returning were compelled to rush their automobile through the
back waters on this side of the Catawba river. Last night the flood was within
six or seven feed of the floor of the bridge at Horseford.
Considerable damage also was done to highways and bridges in
the county, and there were many reports as to losses.
In the big flood of 1916 there was a total rainfall in two
days of 13.18 inches. The hardest rain fell from Friday night to Saturday
night, when 9.98 inches occurred, 3.3. inches being contributed Saturday night
and Sunday. It was Sunday morning when the covered bridge went down at
Horseford and all day on Sunday thousands of people watched bales of cotton,
hay, lumber and other articles ride the big waves. In that freshet much damage
was done to manufacturing plants and business was suspended in this section for
about two weeks.
Col. L.T. Nichols, superintendent of the Carolina &
North-Western, was here today from Chester en route north to investigate the
flood damage to his line. There was no damage of consequence between here and
Lenoir, but north of Lenoir three bridges were reported down. He was hopeful of
having the damage repaired in a few hours, as the trestles were small ones.
Around Mortimer the damage may be greater.
A telephone message from Lenoir last night said that much
damage had been done to crops in that section and also to bridges. The rainfall
must have been much heavier there, as was the case in upper South Carolina,
where the precipitation was much greater than around Hickory.
There were varying reports as to the flood stage of the Catawaba
river. It was reported 15 feet high at Horseford, 8 feet high at Terrell, and
20 feet at Catawba station. It could have easily been all these, depending on
the width of the stream and the steepness of the banks.
Serious damage was reported in the Bridgewater section, but
investigation disclosed only minor damage except to crops in the river bottoms.
There were no important bridges destroyed, and it was said that the situation
there was similar to that around Hickory.
The long distance telephone lines were in operation out of
Hickory but local lines were somewhat crippled.
At Rhodhiss Today
The Catawba river was 18 feet high at Rhodhiss at 2 o’clock
this morning by actual measurement, according to a report made to Mr. Geo. B.
Hiss at Charlotte. At 6 o’clock the water was 17 feet, and at 10:30 it was 14
feet deep and receiving at the rate of a foot an hour. No damage was done to
the mill, which in 1916 was badly flooded.
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