56 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



SEVERE STORMS. 



Two tropical storms, originating in the Caribbean Sea in August 

 and September, 1915, and moving northwestward to the Gulf coast, 

 developed unsual intensity and occasioned great loss of life and im- 

 mense destruction of property. The first of these passed over Gal- 

 veston and Houston, Tex., August 16 and 17, the barometer falling 

 to 28.20 inches at Houston and the wind reaching a maximum veloc- 

 ity of 93 miles per hour from the east at Galveston. It was estimated 

 that about 280 lives were lost and property amounting to $20,000,000 

 destroyed. The second struck the coast about the mouth of the 

 Mississippi on September 29 and passed northward over New Or- 

 leans, La. The barometer fell to 28.11 inches at New Orleans, the 

 lowest reading on record in the United States, and the wind attained 

 a maximum velocity of 130 miles per hour from the east. The esti- 

 mated number of lives lost was 275 and the value of property de- 

 stroyed $13,000,000. Warnings of these storms issued by the Weather 

 Bureau, beginning with the first day of their appearance, were given 

 widespread and effective distribution well in advance, and were with- 

 out doubt the means of great savings, both in life and property. 



RIVER AND FLOOD SERVICE. 



Sixty-two of the principal stations of the bureau participate in the 

 work, and about 600 subordinate river-gaging and rainfall-report- 

 ing stations furnish the necessary hydrologic data for the respective 

 watersheds. Flood warnings and all forecasts of river stages are 

 issued by trained section officials specifically authorized to do so, but 

 all this work is rather closely supervised at Washington, in the be- 

 lief that constant oversight is necessary and helpful in maintaining 

 the service at a high standard of efficiency. 



The severe floods of January and February, 1916, in the Mississippi 

 below Cairo, in the rivers of Arkansas and Oklahoma, and, later in 

 the year, in the Mississippi between Dubuque, Iowa, and Louisiana, 

 Mo., afforded a critical test of the efficiency of the organization. As 

 the flood crest on each stream approached, timely and accurate warn- 

 ings thereof were distributed well in advance. The present sj^stem 

 of flood forecasting is the result of about 10 years of well-sustained 

 effort on the part of river forecasters to improve the warnings and 

 to get a better grasp upon the problem. 



LOSS AND DAMAGE BY FLOOD. 



A compilation of the loss sustained in the United States during 

 the calendar year 1915, due to flood waters, places the amount at 

 nearly $21,000,000. Of this amount a little more than half fell upon 

 the agricultural interests of the country. 



AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY. 



From the early days of the service the issue of frost warnings for 

 the special benefit of gardeners and horticulturists, and the citrus, the 

 tobacco, the cranberry, and other industries, has been marked by con- 

 stant study, improvement, and extension. With the advent of arti- 



