NP, RD 1/23/1865

From the Richmond Dispatch
 
January 23, 1865
 
The flood at the South
   The recent heavy flood experienced in Virginia and North Carolina seems to have been general throughout the confederacy. The Charleston Mercury says:
   Between this city and Columbia the long trestlework on the South Carolina railroad, at Kingsville, has been washed away.
   At Columbia, there was a great "upheaval of the waters," and the Congaree river was higher than it has been since 1852, causing great destruction to mills, plantations, etc.
   At Chester, on the Columbia & Charlotte {Charlotte & South Carolina} railroad, heavy losses were sustained and the track greatly damaged.
   On the North Carolina railroad, between Charlotte and Greenbrier two bridges are gone.
   In Georgia, the waters have been very high. The Augusta Constitutionalist says:
   Up to Tuesday evening the Savannah river had been rising with some rapidity, but no one anticipated the angry, turbulent tide that was presented on Wednesday morning. The recent rains had been in no wise heavy, and it was not supposed that the snows in the mountains had melted to such an extent as to produce a freshet. Yet, during Tuesday night the river rose very quickly, and by morning had passed its banks, sweeping everything before it. The suburbs to the west of the city were inundated, and the eager watchers were hurrying through the streets. By noon every avenue was a miniature river, the current dashing along at a cataract speed.
   All business was necessarily suspended, save that incident to the protection and preservation of property. Pedestrians found themselves water-bound upon all sides. Skiffs, canoes, and other craft were brought into requisition, and vessels of all sorts were impressed to transport passengers, furniture, baggage, etc. Ladies who had ventured out were caught by the rapidly-swelling waters, and forced to seek wagons and drays for safe carriage home. The only lucky fellows were the wandering cavalrymen, who, fearless for the nonce of provost guards, plunged madly and furiously about upon their horses. By nightfall, Broad street, from one extremity to the other, was a billowy sea, traversed only by boats. Green street was a rushing torrent; the cross streets were all filled to the brim, while to the south there was one vast watery expanse, as weary a waste as ever eye rested upon. There was no egress or ingress to or from the city. Every road was submerged. The canal bridges were, in many cases, swept away. The railroad depots {of the Georgia RR and the Augusta & Savannah RR} were inaccessible, and all travel stopped. The factories had to cease work. The gas works were rendered useless, and the hydrants choked up from a surplusage of water. Pumps and wells were overflown, and we might as well have been in the midst of the great Sahara, famishing for aqua pura, as here in the midst of the flood.
   The only places in the whole city not reached by the water were the sidewalks on Broad street, extending from Jackson to Washington, and these were only comparatively dry. At the Planters' Hotel the water was from three to five feet deep, and that popular caravansary was for the day approachable only by navigators. The Globe, Southern States and Augusta Hotels escaped with cellars full of water.
   The water, when at its height, was up to the track on the bridge, and the greatest depth reached was thirty-five feet.
   We have been unable to ascertain that any lives were lost. It was reported several parties had been drowned in Hamburg, but we could trace the rumor to no reliable source.
***
   The tracks of all the railroads are more or less damaged, and under water to such an extent as to prevent travel into the city for a day or two.

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