A Severe Rain Storm

New York, 1895

MUCH DAMAGE DONE TO BUILDINGS AND THE HIGHWAYS.

The So-Called Shelton Avenue Improvement Makes a Lake Under Mr. Downing's Residence — Railroad Trains Delayed for Hours by Land Slides.

Saturday's storm did much damage in the town of Jamaica by flooding cellars and washing away the road beds in many places. The roadways were ankle deep in water, and small lakes formed in low places. As usual with any heavy rainfall of late, the cellar under the residence of Charles Downing, corner of Clinton and Shelton avenues, in this village, was flooded to the depth of four feet, and the rear of the yard was also filled with water. A force of men were engaged all day Saturday freeing Mr. Downing's cellar from water.

The cellar and yard of the dwelling occupied by Mrs. Ditmars Johnson, on the corner of Clinton and Shelton avenues, were badly flooded. The water ran down Shelton avenue to Flushing avenue during the storm like a small river.

The volume was so great that for a time the new sewer on Church street was unable to carry it off, and the sidewalks on Ray and Church streets were submerged. Large ponds of water formed on Herriman avenue near Hillside avenue, the water in some places being from three to four feet in depth.

Hillside avenue near the railroad bridge at Hayestown was so flooded that it was impassable. The storm cesspools built by the highway commissioners were useless.

At Richmond Hill the cellars of a number of residences were flooded, and many of the highways were impassable.

At Springfield many of the roadways were damaged by washouts. During the gale which accompanied the rainfall the portable building in election district No. 14, Springfield, was blown down and wrecked.

Several washouts and land slides were reported on the Long Island railroad and trains were delayed.

At Smithtown the track of the Port Jefferson branch road was covered with dirt by a land slide to the depth of from two to five feet, delaying the first train from Huntington two hours.

The Rockaway road from Dooley's, at Springfield, across the meadows was impassable, the tide rising over it the greater part of the day.

At Hollis the roadways were flooded and numbers of people who started to take the early morning trains went home again. Woodhull avenue, which runs in front of the railroad depot, was filled with water, as were the low places on the Hempstead road to a depth of from three to four feet.

At Arverne-by-the-Sea when the residents awoke they found their back yards flooded. Streets and avenues were covered by the high tide. Breakers chased across the surface, while the waters almost reached the top of the Rockaway Beach trestle. Fishing stations suffered and small craft of all descriptions were floated from their moorings and badly damaged.

The storm flooded a great many places in Woodhaven. Among them were Mrs. Payne's dwelling. Sweeney's saloon floor was two foot under water. The Italian quarter on Ocean avenue was completely under water, the water entering at the front door and going out through the back door. Several children sleeping in the basement had a narrow escape from being drowned.

The Chester Park station of the rapid transit division was entirely under water early Saturday morning, and it was impossible for passengers to get on or off the cars there for some time. There is a deep hollow there, and the water was at least eight feet deep.

The South Side supply store on the old south road at Aqueduct was completely flooded. There was six feet of water in the cellar, and a quantity of feed, flour and pork was destroyed. The cow and chicken houses were also under water. The cow was rescued, but the chickens were drowned. There is talk of sueing the railroad for stopping up a pipe that was put in at this place to carry off the water.

The macadamized roads in and around Woodhaven suffered severely from the heavy rain storm. Several places on the Broadway and South plank road, also on Grafton avenue, were washed out, and will need considerable repairing before they are in proper condition.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Feb. 1, 1895, p. 1.