Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / Aug. 2, 1944, edition 1 / Page 1
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■ m \ .. FORECAST . Wilmington and vicinity: Cooler today. Temperatures yeste.day: High 71; low 66. --— ^ - -M__ _ _ * _ .* VOL. 77.—NO. 166 WILMINGTON, N. C., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2 ,1944 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867 -' ----------------—- —■ !CKS BEACHES; ERS GREATLY 60-Mile Gale Hits Coast Hard Blow; Waves 40 Ft. HigK High Winds Send Thousands Inland A tropical storm of hurricane force, believed to be the worst to lash southeastern North Carolina in 200 years, struck the Wilmington vicinity late yesterday and at ap proximately 10 p. m. turned the center of its fury inward, sliehtlv south of the city, to proceed in a west-northwest direction. ( „ Damage to nearby beaches was said to be enormous and within the city itself the fierce winds, blowing at 50 to 60 miles, played havoc with telephone, power, and light lines, and twisted and downed old and massive oaks. Evacuees from the beaches, fleeing fiom boiling waves that attained an estimated height of 40 feet, swarm ed into every available building in the city, or sought pro tection at Camp Davis. Bus lines worked heroically, in conjunction with the Army and Coast Guard and concerned citizens, to bring panic-stricken families to safety. At IT o’clock there were ho report of though handfuls of casualties were being bro#ht to JaiWpp Walker Memorial hospital, where attaches were forced to - work on their patients by candle light. Two Negroes were severely burned by fallen high tension wires, one of whom was described by Community hospital doctors as being in a serious condition.” , Reports filtered in from thfc "beach areas of destroyed piers and crushed houses. The storm seemed to have vented its fiercest temper on the coast proper in the late after noon. Sea water filled the streets and topped the board walks. x . , Until after 10 o’clock last night Wilmingtomans, and the evacuees, hovered under whatever protective roofs they could find waiting for the expected full fury of the hurri cane. They suspected the tempered winds as constituting the* lull before the heaviest storm, but the center already had passed inland. to.,, foil vonirllv and attained a low of 29.44 at 7:30 p. m. Every facility on the coast was on alert and on duty. The Coast Guard began to move residents off the beaches in the middle of the afternoon, as the Weather Bureau and the Army and Navy weather stations warned of the impending blow. Wilmingtonians, used to storm warnings, but doubt ful that the danger would actually strike, remained skepti cal until late afternoon when the strong winds, buffeting heavy rains, paralyzed traffic and made walking in the city a perilous matter. Lights of the city for many hours were entirely off, except in the heart of town. For approximately an hour, th« uptown lights were extinguished, a result of crippled pow er h’nes and overloaded transformers. Travelers along the old part of Wilmington, after the main part of the storm, rued the tremendous damage done to the proud trees a>ong the oldest streets, Princess, Chest nut and Grace. City and utility crews were on the job, un tangling power lines from the masses of torn foliage. Hotels and USO clubs were accommodating hundreds of neop’e. some of them wandering through lobbies in their bathing suits, and many of whom were looking for their lost friends and relatives. The police station at City Hall was wrapped in dark ness. its radio out of operation. The Control Center ir, the Odd Fellows hall was func tioning, its personnel, perspiring and in shirtsleeves, at tempting to round up civilian defense workers to scour the streets in search of victims, or to aid in any other develop The R»i?' Cross disaster chairman was away from the city, but President Henry Gerdes was on hand to direct Red Cross assistance At 10:30 p. m. officials were consid ering mass feeding of the evacuees today. The city awaited word from the beaches as to the ex tent of the damage. Some eyewitnesses described Carolina Beach as pos sessing a “ruined waterfront.” At 9 o’clock a large part of the eastern section of ahe community was still under from one to six feet of water. A good descript:on of the damagas was offered by State Highway Patrolman M. S. Parvin, who visited the re sort after residents had fled. The entire boardwalk, he reported, was swept away, and the ponderous waves, climbing 30 feet high, battered down the shops and concessions on the front boardwalk. In addition, floods of water invaded the lower boardwalk, dashing debris against the stores, hotels, and other estate lishments. (Coi^nued on Page Two; Col. 3) High Waves Ruin Homes At Carolina THOUSANDS LEAVE Boardwalk Ripped Apart As Big 30-Foot Waves Demolish Resort CAROLINA BEACH, Aug. 1. _ Its thousands of resi dents and visitors evacuated safely through quick work by military authorities and the transportation comp anies, the waterfront at this large resort was in ruins tonight and scores of cottages demol ished or seriously damaged as the result of the greatest storm to strike here in the past 200 years. At 9 o'clock, no estimate on the damage was available because a large part of the eastern section of the community was still under from one to six feet of water. A good description of the damage was given by State Highway Pa Itrolman M. S. Parvin, who visited the resort after it had been eva cuated. Ine entire boardwalk, he report ed. was swept away and the giant waves—they reached a height of 30 feet at times—battered down the shops and concessions on the front boardwalk. In addition, the great flood of water swept into the lower boardwalk, crashing debris against the stores, hotels, cafes and other establishments. Loosened by t h e high seas, pieces of the boardwalk became battering rams in the roar ing surf and loosened the un derpinning of numerous cottages on the southern extension. They top pled into the flood tide. The entire southern section, from the center of town to Kure’s beach, was swept by the high seas and w.nd that reached a volccity of 65 miles an hour at the height of the storm. The waters of the ocean joined with those of the lake and the en tire highway, from the beach to fort Fisher, was under water (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1) -V nuuuMj rnUJbLTS SHELTER EVACUEES Paul Allen, general housing Manager of Maffitt Village, re ported last night that no serious damage had been done the houses et Maffitt Village during last a'8ht s hurricane. _ 'There has been no damage here sj the village, in fact we are planning to take care of about 2M evacuees in our apartments Allen said. H. Stanley, chief of police at toe Village, reported that all main tenance crews had been called !° work and were doing a splendid l°t> of assisting in the placing of evacuees in all available rooms. At Lake Forest several of the residents of the demountable houses left their homes to take ■efuge in the community building °r in the Lake Forest School, -hoor damage was reported at kake-Forest., No serious injuries "ei'e reported at either of the Jrge housing projects. Bazooka Knocks Out German Tank A two-man bazooka crew (top) fires at an advancing German tank in Normandy. As smoke and flame clear away (bottom) a de tachment of infantry .ed by Sgt. James F. Kelly of Boston, Mass., rushes toward the battered tank in search of German crew members. Two Nazi Annies Isolated By Reds LONDON, Aug. 1.—(JP)—The Russian First Baltic ar my slashed the last road and rail communications between the north Baltic states and East Prussia tonight, isolating two German armies in Estonia and Latvia, while two other powerful Soviet army groups captured Kaunas, pre-war capital of Lithuania, and closed a steel arc of siege around burning Warsaw. xiic tictp 111 me uaiui, wcio r ing closed by Gen. Ivan C. Bagra. mian’s men, who seized Tukums, rail center nine miles south of the Gulf of Riga and 30 miles al most due west of the city of Riga. Six other railway stations were among more than 100 taken in that drive, the Soviet midnight com munique announced, describing the threat of German catastrophe in a single sentence: “Thus our troops have cut all roads leading from the Baltic to East Prussia.” How many Germans remain there is uncertain, but their num bers are believed to be large, as both the l(5th and 18th armies, once totalling 350,000 men, were (Continued on Page Two; Col. 5) • _v_ I Two Negroes Shocked By High Tension Wires Dallie Jacobs, Negro, was shock ed last night by a fallen high ten sion wire at 13th and Orange Streets and was carried to Community Hos pital for treatment rf seve-e burns on his right leg and both arms. His conditions was regarded as not being serious. Another unidentified Negro was seriously burned when he was electrocuted near the same corner. He was given artificial respiration and later taken to the hospital, where his condition was reported as serious. TREES, WIRES UTTER ROADS An eye witness account of the hurricane that hit Wilmington an< Wrightsvilie beach last night was given by.two representatives of the Star-News who made a trip te Wrightsvilie sound at 7:30 o'clock last night. Trees were down al along the highway between Wil mington and the sound. Wire: were down and in most place: damage was done to houses anc automobiles parked along the road A steady stream of automobile: and buses were coming to towr loaded with the residents o Wrightsvilie Beach, aided by thi Army, evacuating the resident: from the beach across the cause way. which was completely cover ed with water. Army trucks wen making the trips across the flood ed causeway in steady streams Police and civilians directini traffic at the Wrightsvilie termina were warning motorists not to maki the trip across the causeway. The; informed the people that all per sons on the beach would be safe ly removed to the mainland. Most of the power lines to thi beach were broken and lying ccros: the reads at several (Continued on Page Two; Col. 7) I Storm Taxes Police rorce The Wilmington Police de partment, working n con junction with the Civilian De fense Military Police, and the American Red Cross, pressed he entire force of 45 police of 'uerj into service last night luring the worst storm Wil h'iugt,,,, has seen in 200 years, headquarters lost report of he number of high tension "'res blown onto the streets **rl\ last night, but said they 3(1 "over a hundred” calls Sporting exposed wires. One <a reported five wires in the »t one place on the r" block of North Fourth St. n rtectrocixtioftip were in stigated by the officers', both being within two blocks of each other. In addition to the entire city police force, more than 50 Mili tary Police were called to duty and assigned posts throughout the city. The efficiency of the depart ment was greatly hindered be cause there was no power to operate the radio, used to re lay calls to the patrol cars. As a result, all cars were forc ed to report at regular inter vals back to headquarters. Louis J. Poisson, chief of the Civilian Defense unit, began organizing his forpe of volun teer workers at an early hour last night. Most of the volun teers donned their emergency gear and reported to their posts without orders from their chief. Mary large plate glass store windows were broken in every part of the city, but there were no reports of looting late last night. Three auto accidents were renorted, and it was be lieved that many went unre ported. At Seventh and Orange Sts., a tree blew over and a large limb was pushed through the roof of a nearby house and landed in livirg -"iri. The worst of the storm had passed when W. B. Bryan, manager of the local office of (Continued on Page Two; Col. 5 y-. U.S. Troops 1 Smash Out In Brittany DRIVE THUNDERS ON American Armor Pointed At Heart Of France In Great Victory SUPREME HEADQUAR TERS ALLIED EXPEDI TIONARY FORCE, Wednes day, Aug. 2.—(/P)—Surging columns of American armor pointed at the heart of France broke into Brittany at four( points Tuesday, smashing < ten miles from captured Av-1 ranches in two directions; and infantry forces taking, over ahe brunt of the thun derous offensive along a wide front, bagged a one-day to tal of 7,812 prisoners from the broken ranks of the re treating Germans. While the armor drove down the coast beyond Avranches American infantry came into its own with a powerful inland smash into the streets of Villedieu-les Poeles and T«#sy-sur-Sur, and along the whole inland side of the Yank break through German crumbled. As the great offensive rolled into its ninth day, a Supreme Head quarters communique said armor ed spearheads captured two dams in an area ten miles southeast of Avranches across the Selune river, boundary of and last natural bar rier before Brittany. A front dis patch said the advance was so swift the Germans had no chance to blow up the installations. The Americans also smashed across the river four and one-half and ^ix miles southeast of Av ranches, taking Pontaubault and Ducey. Ten miles east of Avranches the doughboys strengthened their hold along the See river, capturing Brecey, a road junction. Associated Press Correspondent Wes Gallagher in a dispatch from tlie front said the Germans prob ably would try to halt the drive I before the Americans surge com pletely out of the Cotentin penin sula and into the interior of France. where Field Marshal I Guenther von Kluge would be un lable to establish a line. ' Even if he did establish a line ■ temporarily by throwing in new ; divisions rushed from other parts of France, they never again would be able to stalemate the Allies as Tthey did in the first 50 days of the invasion. Gallagher wrote. Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley has caught up with his timetable and : is swinging along now far better : than was expected ten days ago. ; having accomplished the three pri - mary objectives assigned him—se . (Continued on Page Three; Col. 4) Reds Reach Warsaw Soviet troops (arrows) have tak en Kaunas, the Germans announc ed, and are on the outskirts of Warsaw. Another drive, reported by Moscow, neared Riga. ARMY VEHICLES AID EVACUATION One hundred Army trucks from Camp Davis were pressed intc action as it became necessary tc handle the evacuees from Wrights ville Beach during and after the disastrous storm which struck this area last night. Emergency housing and feeding facilities were made available anc the trucks were ordered to move into the storm struck area as sooi as members of the Camp Commanc were apprised of the desperate sit uation caused by the sudden gales wreaking havoc along the coasta area. Col. Adam E. Potts, earnp com mander, in concert with Brig. Gen C. V. B. Schuyler, of the AAATC here, and Brig. Gen. Bryan L. Mil burn, commandant of the Anti-Air craft Artillery school, cooperated in making the trucks and other fa cilities available. .AH officers kep in touch with the situation through out the evening. -v Red Cross Shelters Storm Victims Hen The local American Red Cros chapter reported last night that i was sheltering between 500 and 0( beach evacuees at USO clubs an( other public facilities. The food situation was reportei to be “well in hand”, and Re< Cross workers were planning f; feed the refugees breakfast thi: morning. -V PISA EVACUATED LONDON, /lug. L—Or—The Ger man radio said tonight the historii Italian city of Pisa had been “evac uated” in o~der to save the city': art treasures. WITNESS TELLS OF EVACUATION By Sgt. EDMUND MONK Rushing ahead of a 60-mile gale blowing straight off the Atlantic, | thousands of summer and perma nent residents of Wrightsville Beach evacuated their homes as streets there filled with water and the hurricane force wind whipped the Sound dangerously over the only two bridges leering out of the resort heavily populated with the i wives and children of military personnel at Camp Davis 30 miles away. Coast Guardsmen, augmented late in the afternoon by details from Camp Davis, combed the beach front and the other cottage areas for women and children who may not have gotten the alarm. The writer, formerly an Asso ciated Press correspondent, went to the resort late in the day to lo cate his wife and 11-year-old daughter. .. - - Waves boiled over the bridge gunwales as other soldier motorists crossed toward Wrightsville on similar errands. Lines of cars packed with evacuees, mostly wo men and children, passed, headed inland. The two available roads leading j to the popular resort were strewn with fallen trees, blocking traffic and causing constant jams. Bran ches hurtled through the air with uuiicfc sptfttu. The northerly half of Wrights ville Beach—situated on a water locked semi-island—became more i hazardous by the minute. Some : residents felt a tidal change, be fore nightfall would bring a let down in the gale and high water— but none was apparent at 7 p. m. The writer waded and plunged through often waste deep water, frantically seeking the cottage where his family had been stay ing. After a mile of mucking, ac companied by scores of officers ' (Continued on Page Three; Col. 3) -V ! Water Conservation Urged In City Today [ - M’Kean Maffitt, superintendent of [ city water department, last night [ issued an appeal to Wilmington , ians to use as little water as pos , s!ble today, as the power station was reported to be operating on a steam basis and furnishing only one-half of the usual 3,000.000 gal lons of water distributed here. ‘'We don't even want people to : take baths today,” he said. "The ■ situation is critical and we're ask-, i ing everyone to conserve as much water as possible.” Life Guards Aid Evacuation i , jif < Tommy Hawkins, Billy stew art and Jake Wade, Jr., life guards at Wrightsville Beach reported last night at 8 p.m. that the Army and the Coast Guard had almost completed the evacuation of the residents of Wrightsville Beach. The life guards aided the service men in warning the residents to flee the beach and also helped in the actual evacuation of the people. The life guards were notified by the Wrightsville Police de partment to start warning the people to leave the island re sort at 4:30 o’clock in the aft ernoon. The three guards with the assistance of Pete Herring, Billy Stewart and Claude San ford began a door to door warn ing service urging the residents to leave the beach at once. Most of the people were very cooperative, the guards said, While some of them refused to leave thejr property. . , The peak of the storm hit the beach between 6:30 and 7:30 o'clock when the wind reached its highest velocity, which was reported to be 65 miles per hour i at times. The guards said it was almost impossiuie lu wain, along the beach the wind was so strong. The actual evacua tion of the residents began about 5 o'clock with the Wrightsville Coast Guard using all the available trucks to transport ' the people to the mainland where they were load ed into private cars, buses and other means of transportation to Wilmington. Shortly after 5 o'clock Army trucks began to arrive at the beach '.n what . seemed endless streams. The Coastguardsmen were loading the residents on the-trucks and the Army was transporting them across the water covered causeway to 1he mainland. Water was repo tad to he "nee deep at station one and all of the small fishing and pleasure craft moored at the piers were sunk by the huge waves in Banks channel. ftTost all of the private piers were demolished along the Banks channel water front. Several houses were re ported to have been blown down and roofs were off of most cottages on the beach. The Atlantic View fishing pier and the Mira-Mar fishing pici wwc awt ctwaj waves that were reported to be as high as 30 feet. The Wrightsville Coast Guard station was covered with water and a detail of Coast Guards men from the captain of the port’s office in Wilmington were sent to aid the guards at the beach. The greatest difficulty the rescuers had on the beach was keeping the roads clear of civilian automobiles stalled all along the causeway. Civilians insisted that they be allowed to drive to their houses to get their famalies. Their cars were stall ed along the road and had to be removed by the service men to allow passage of the Army ve hicles with the evacuees aboard. Another of the ha» ards were the fallen wires around Station one. The Coast Guard finally stopped all civil ian traffic across the causeway and then the roads were kept open to allow a smooth flow of rescue vehicles. As far as could be learned from the life guards no one had been seriously injured at Wrightsville Beach.
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Aug. 2, 1944, edition 1
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