It is described as having been thirty feet high and one mile broad.
It swept everything before it, toppling over the houses like cardboard boxes. The terrified people climbed into trees, and clutched at anything within reach, to save themselves.
The rush of the water lasted till ten o'clock, then it ceased, and finally began to subside.
The sudden flood was due to a cloud-burst, which is a great fall of rain coming down without warning over a very small area of land, the contents of the whole cloud being discharged at once.
This mass of water rushing into the already swollen river made it burst its banks, and sweep over the surrounding country.
It is said that about one hundred persons have been drowned, and two thousand rendered homeless.
There is hopeful news for us of the floods in the Mississippi Valley.
The river is falling slightly in some districts, and it is hoped that the floods will have entirely gone down in the next ten days.
The distress is terrible, however. In some places the river is sixteen miles wide, and it will take a long time for such a quantity of water to drain off.