Flood Waters do Damage
Following a rain of four and a half inches or more Saturday night, water overflowed the creek in the south part of town and caused the highest flood waters on record in Farnam. The large bridge erected over the usually dry creek a few years ago was unable to handle the water, some of the excess going over it and some around it.
Eight inches of water was in the Chas. Mowery house south of the creek and it reached up to the lumber yard on the north. Three spans of railroad track were washed out inside the village limits and a little water was in the depot. The four grain elevators along the track, two owned by the Farmers Co-Op Assoc. and two by the Lexington Mill & Elevator Co., all had their pits full of water. A 10x16 foot feed house near the west Lexington elevator was washed nearly a mile east and lodged against the railroad bridge in Roy Heath’s pasture.
Water was breast high to a group of men who went to the Tom Caster home in the low southeast part of town and brought Mr. and Mrs. Caster to higher ground and safety about midnight. They lost nearly a hundred head of young chickens and the water was twenty inches deep in the house.
About two inches of water was in the village pump house, but there was no damage to the water supply.
The grade was washed away from teh Deer creek bridge on highway 23 west of town for 100 ft or more on both sides of the bridge. A small county bridge south of the Farmers elevator was washed out. Parts of the Gothenburg highway were under water from the heavy rain but were usable as soon as the water went down. Practically all country roads were badly washed and some are impassable.
Telegraph and telephone communication systems were badly crippled but service is gradually being put back to normal.
Smaller articles such as railroad ties and telephone poles were scattered all over the flooded section and debris of different kinds was piled in numerous places.
At Ingham the small depot built last year was washed a half mile east and lodged against the railroad bridge. Other small buildings were moved around and the railroad tracks damaged for about a half mile.
Wind damage was reported at Curtis, west of Gothenburg, Bartley, Holdrege and Loomis, and Curtis suffered considerable damage from the high water, especially in the railroad yards.
At Cambridge flood waters caused the death of nine people, filled all basements with water and was responsible for many thousands of dollars damage to property, and suffering people. There the water system was put out of service.
Flood waters in the vicinity of Shelton stopped traffic on both the Union Pacific main line and highway 30. Washed out places on the Burlington High Line east from Farnam, including a bad one between Eustis and Elwood and one between Eustis and Farnam, stopped train and mail service on this branch.
