WEATHER BUREAU. 79 



measures whatever and caused the loss of 215 lives. Incompletely 

 reported losses of property and crops amount to more than $19,000,- 

 000. This amount actually exceeds the total losses caused by the 

 great floods of the following spring in the Mississippi River and its 

 tributaries. The total reported for these latter floods was $17,087,790, 

 and approximately 15,000 square miles of land were overflowed, over 

 13,000 square miles of which were below the mouth of the Ohio River. 

 The reported grand total of flood losses for the year was about $52,- 

 000,000. 



In April and May Texas suffered again to the extent of at least 

 $3,000,000, with the highest stages of record in some of the rivers, 

 and still a third time in June, when the great Rio Grande flood did 

 damage to the extent of about $3,000,000, making a total forthe year 

 for the iState of Texas of about $25,000,000, the major portion of 

 which was in crops, either in hand or prospective. 



In April, floods in the Connecticut Valley caused nearly $1,000,000 

 damage, and the jMay floods in the Colorado RiA'er also proved de- 

 structive by reason of the breaking of a levee on the right bank of 

 the river at Hauser Bend, Calif., in the Palo Verde Valley. The 

 crevasse attained a width of 1,300 feet, and the waters flooded 30,000 

 acres of land, 10,000 of which were under cultivation. The loss and 

 damage amounted to about $1,000,000. 



Destructive local -floods. — An unusual number of destructive local 

 floods occurred in creeks and other small streams, such as those in 

 the State of Washington in December, 1921, at Burlington, Kans., 

 in March, 1922, and in eastern New York, northeastern Pennsylvania, 

 and Wisconsin in June, with estimated total damage of $5,750,000, 

 excluding that in Wisconsin, of which no report of losses was re- 

 ceived. 



Flood learnings. — The flood warnings issued by the Weather Bu- 

 reau were instrumental in saving property to the reported value of 

 $8,166,500. Growing crops, of course, can not be saved, nor as a rule 

 can houses, roads, bridges, etc., so that the figures given above repre- 

 sent mainly live stock and other portable property, and the statistics 

 received indicate that the losses of property of this kind were very 

 small. 



Summar]/ of operations. — Natural expansion of river and flood 

 work has been limited to the addition of a few scattered stations and 

 the inauguration at very small cost of flood service on the Platte 

 River. This service is maintained through cooperation with the de- 

 partment of public works of the State of Nebraska, Vxhich supplied 

 the gauges and at two stations the gauge readers. Limited extensions 

 were also made in southeastern Missouri. 



A new river district was established at San Antonio, Tex., being 

 simply a portion of the old river district of Houston, Tex. The 

 change was made in the interest of efficiency of operation and with- 

 out additional charge upon the service as a whole. Another change 

 was that of consolidation of the river districts of lola, Kans.. and 

 Fort Smith, Ark., with headquarters at the latter station. 



The compilation of the histories of all the river stations, about 

 500 in number, has been brought to virtual completion and now 

 serves to bring within a very small compass a large mass of valuable 

 material that was unavailable and liable to loss. 



