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RIVERS IN A RAGE
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loanoke and along Southwest Bouk' ^ard— a property loss of more than me million dollars in one great fire!
["f TE turned back again. I looked W out the plane and saw those .wo wild barges, now sullenly and itubbornly holding the Hannibal Jridge open, right where they lodged fter they tore loose from moorings t the Municipal Barge Lines Docks.
E Further south I saw again the roof ; )ens at the Stockyards. Approxii nately 6,000 dead hogs and 3,500 lead of heavy, fat cattle of top frade, already purchased (said Councilman Nolan) by Kansas City pack' ::rs before they were caught and ji Irowned in the pens. Now a comiplete loss.
J Many times in the past fifteen [((/ears I have flown out of and into
;he wonderful airport of Kansas City,
;ach time seeing our beautiful city as jjit spread out in all its magnificent
grandeur — the river so properly laced jijin its corset of protective levees — the
hills of the city covered with green i^tree tops.
"I Now — the river was fat and broad '5 — and angry, acting like a drunken "tharlot, destructive, vicious and imf moral.
As I looked at the horrible destruc tion, I reflected upon the certain suffering and loss; I realized how little man is, when he meets Mother Nature in her angriest mood.
We flew on up the Kaw River beyond Bonner Springs, Kansas — and saw at close view the whole valley covered with water, but now several feet below crest. The first evidences of the clean'Up job ahead could be seen where the water had receded.
At Turner, Kansas, the Santa Fe hump yards were completely covered. Thousands of railroad cars were strewn zig'Zag by the force of the rising waters.
Homes nearby — along with all other property in the sweep of the high waters — were now only a shambles. Large oil storage tanks — trains of oil tank cars — lay twisted like a black-sectioned snake — drowned and silent.
Bridges were destroyed. The railroads wrecked. We were soon back again for a closer look at the fire area: t\\elvc blocks destroyed, neighboring roofs caved in, and the firemen still playing a stream of water on the smouldering ruins. Still at it, after starting the fight last Friday noon — a continuous battle for more than 75 hours. An unheard-of fire battle in Kansas City, I surely believe.
Now we could see the Fairfax Industrial District again — we were headed north.
Literally hundreds upon hundreds of 50-gallon metal drums were floating on the water. I do not know if they contained anything. We could plainly see the break in the dike on the Kansas side of the Missouri River