New Levee Break Floods
Rich Farm Land of Texas
Los Angeles Times
May 22, 1949, page 5

Near Rosser, Tex., new breaks in the Trinity River levee let flood waters spread over rich farm acreage.  Breaks occurred as waters that inundated Ft. Worth earlier moved downstream.  Hundreds of volunteers failed to stem flood.

New Levee Break Floods Rich Farm Land of Texas

  ROSSER, Tex., May 21 (AP)--
The Trinity River burst its bonds here today and poured millioins of gallons of floodwater tonight onto 11,600 acres of rich farm land.
   The new break, coupled with six earlier levee smashes in adjoining Dallas County relieved pressure on tens of thousands of acres of crops down the turbulent stream.
   The lands flooded are between the river and the town of Rosser in Kaufman County.  Downpours in Ft. Worth and Dallas sent the Trinity rampaging toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Houses Inundated

   Scattered houses dotted the fields flooded by the breached levee.
   Rosser is 39 air-line miles below Dallas and about 100 winding river miles.
   A blue sky and a forecast of fair weather brought hope to Oklahoma today that its weeklong ordeal of floods and tornadoes was nearing an end.
   The seven day storm cost five lives, injured scores, and did millions of dollars damage to homes, businesses and crops.

21 Oklahoma Twisters

   The twisters themselves -- at least 21 of them in Oklahoma -- killed three and injured several others.
   Earlier in the week, Guthrie was inundated as the Cimmaron River burst its banks.  And the North Canadian River backed up.
   In Kansas, tornadoes and windstorms killed two persons and caused extensive damage in widely scattered sections.
   Greatest damage was reported in Rozel, a town of 416 population, in Pawnee County.  Unofficial estimates of damage ranged as high as $500,000.