The Topeka Flood

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 16, 1903

Brother N. B. Emerson, of Topeka, Kan., sends us the following pen picture of the situation caused by the recent flood in that city, of which he is a resident:—

TOPEKA, KAN., June 5.

At twelve o'clock, May 29, it was very apparent that great danger was threatening our city. I was standing on the bridge across the river when the warning was given that the bridge was liable to go at any time. I, with many others, got off the bridge, and watched the swelling stream. The water kept rising until the entire river valley was covered, which is five miles wide.

North Topeka, a city of ten thousand inhabitants, was covered with water before midnight, all the way from three to fifteen feet deep. I was awakened at half-past two Sabbath morning by the screaming and crying of men, women, and children. I dressed and went to a telephone and called up the police headquarters, and told them that I feared the people were needing help in North Topeka, but I soon found that they were doing all they possibly could to relieve the sufferers. As I stood on the bank of the river, and saw the men in their boats bringing that throng from trees, house-tops, anywhere they could be found, I felt that we were indeed living in strange times. That statement made by the spirit of prophecy that “whole cities shall be swept away,” surely is true. In all this confusion it seemed very sad to hear men swearing and cursing God for this terrible calamity, and as never before I have been made to understand Rev. 16: 9-11. When I see that so few people are willing to stop and talk about these things from a Bible standpoint, I can see more clearly how many will feel when the plagues fall. I can see more clearly what that statement from the pen of the servant of God means, that we should get out of the cities as soon as possible. As I meet our own people in the city of Topeka who are driven from their homes, and see the anxiety depicted upon their countenances, it makes me very sad.

Up to this writing there are some of our brethren and sisters from whom we have not even heard. My own dear boy was over in the valley, and I did not know that I should ever see his face again, but I read and meditated upon the ninety-first Psalm, and took him with all the faith I could to God. I have not seen my son yet, but I have received a note from him saying that he is all right.

While it seems that all the land on the river valley is covered with water, my own little home has escaped being flooded.

One young man, nearly frantic about his father and mother, persuaded a skilled boatman to undertake a trip through the valley in search of his parents. My son and a neighbor boy had rescued them Friday evening, and they, with all others who could do so, went to the hills. My boy had just returned to our home Sunday afternoon in time to see the boatman. We haven't heard from him since.

No pen can describe the scene, no tongue the distress. Thousands are driven to the hills, to return to nothing but mud.

In view of my many friends and acquaintances in different parts of the country who will be interested to hear from us, I have written these few lines for the Review.