TOWN FLOODED BY TREACLE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3363, 1 November 1911, Page 7

TOWN FLOODED BY TREACLE.

PEOPLE SWEPT OFF THEIR FEET BY STICKY TORRENT.

RESCUE BY RAFTS

One of the most extraordinary floods in history has just caused great damage in New Orleans. Several tanks containing millions of gallons of treacle burst on Monday, and the commercial district around the Levees was flooded with the thick fluid, which penetrated houses, - shops, and streets, doing enormous damage and threatening the lives of a number of people. When tire tankfes burst there was scores of people in the vicinity, who narrowly escaped suffocation or drowning, as they were swept off their feet by the mass of treacle and hurled into pools several feet deep. It was with the greatest difficulty that many of these people were rescued, as in many instances their clothing being saturated, they could not struggle free from the sticky mass. The fire brigade was called out, and rescue parties were organised, who hastily constructed rafts, and with these rescues were effected. Dozens: of houses in the vicinity were invaded, the ground floors of many of them standing two feet deep in treacle. It is stated that the tanks were old, and were loaded beyond their capacity.