FLOOD OVERWHELMS A LINCOLNSHIRE TOWN.

20 PEOPLE DROWNED.

BUILDINGS SWEPT AWAY.

Louth, the little Lincolnshire town of 10,000 inhabitants, was visited by a terrible disaster on Saturday. Late in the afternoon, when most of the people were sheltering in their homes from a thunderstorm, a tiny stream that runs through the heart of the borough was converted into a flood of such magnitude that it overran its banks, uprooted walls and fences, demolished all the bridges, smashed down several buildings, entered whole rows of houses, imperilled their occupants, wrecked their furniture, and, in some instances, swept human beings away. So far the number of deaths reported is 20, but this may not be the full toll of the tragedy, as many other inhabitants are missing. Indeed, a report received just before midnight puts the estimated loss of lives as high as 50.

The flood spread with such rapidity and was of such dimensions that its origin can be attributed only to the bursting of a waterspout in the Wolds. The River Lud is normally only three or four yards broad; it became all at once a sweeping torrent 200 yards wide, and in its swift onrush it encompassed everything as in a whirlpool. The townsfolk were taken quite by surprise. Some were caught whilst having tea – it happened about five o’clock – and some had time just to escape to their bed rooms before the flood had submerged the downstairs apartments. Even in these upper storeys they were not always assured of safety. In some cases they were trapped there and drowned. In the streets pedestrians were carried headlong. Firemen on duty at their brigade stations were carried away, and one of them was drowned.

CLIMBING TREES FOR SAFETY.

Countless are the stories of remarkable escapes. One woman saved her life by climbing up a chimney, and many took refuge in trees. From a certain house, a mother was rescued, but her three young children were drowned; while in another house three members of a family were overwhelmed. The mayor’s residence was itself in the path of the inundation, and a woman’s body was washed up in its grounds. The Grimsby-road was blocked by a pavilion that had been swept out of the field where it belonged.

With the collapse of every bridge in the district and the obstruction of other roads with all sorts of debris, including household furniture and the stocks of shops, one half of the town was isolated from the other, and for the time all rescue efforts were paralysed. Later, however, bands of workers were organised under civic auspices, and toiled all through the night to alleviate the effects of the visitation, in which rich and poor had suffered equally. One of the first tasks of these volunteers was to minister to the aged and the helpless. For these lodgings were speedily found, and for all who had been rendered homeless temporary accommodation was provided. By 10 o’clock yesterday morning, no fewer than 20 bodies had been removed, but this number may not, as already stated, represent the full story of the calamity. Services at more than one place of worship were suspended. “Christianity in times like this lies in helping the stricken,” declared a young minister who had been appointed to preach at a chapel, and accordingly he went out into the town, took off his coat, and assisted in clearing the houses.