Thirteen dead in Wheeling as waters surge, 3-19-1936

THIRTEEN DEAD IN WHEELING AS WATERS SURGE

Nine Persons Drowned And Four Are Killed In Explosion Of Gas In Building

ISLAND INUNDATED

Seven Feet Of Water In Main Street; Tabernacle Swept Away; Hundreds Homeless

Wheeling, W. Va., March 19. —Thousands fled to the highlands for safety from inundated homes and buildings in this industrial city of 70,000 today after the Ohio river's devastating flood waters had poured over their banks and put parts of the business district under ten feet of water.

Wheeling, W. Va., March 19 — Nine persons drowned and four died in an explosion today as raging flood waters swept over this Ohio river city.

The unprecedented flood roared down onto scores of West Virginia and Ohio cities after paralyzing the Pittsburgh area.

Two men drowned at Wellsburg, where families hastily fled before the rising waters.

Much of City Inundated

Large portions of this city, especially Wheeling island, were inundated.

Lieutenant J. E. Stanley, of the city police, told of rescue work throughout the night and evacuation of most of the flood area homes.

"Nine people drowned during the night, three of them over the creek in South Wheeling, three more on the island and the others scattered around town," he said.

"One little girl fell off a porch into eight feet of water. Two men drowned when their boat upset. We don't have any details about the others.

"We haven't had a chance to get their names.

"And, we had an explosion in a house that killed four people. We took five others away from there to hospitals.

"The house just went up into the air and then sank under the water.

"We believe the explosion was caused by an accumulation of gas in the basement."

Stanley said the explosion occurred in the home of a family named ?aisley, but names of the dead were unavailable.

. "I'm looking out of the window right now down into the river. The police station is four blocks from the river," he said.

Water Seven Feet Deep

"There's seven feet of water on Main street and five on Market, the main thoroughfares of this steel city.

"The tabernacle just went out. That's a big frame building built for church services on the Island (Continued On Page 6)