The Storm in the North Sea.
A German correspondent writes as follows of the great tempest on the North Sea and Baltic coast:— “We will attempt to give some idea of the terrible devastation occasioned by the high tide and fearful storm from the northwest on the 13th of November. This tide, which reached its greatest height on the coast of Schleswig at about 9 o’clock at night, was the greatest ever known on the shores of the Baltic, exceeding the great tide of 1864 by 16 inches in height, and that of 1836 by 38 inches. The water rose about 11 feet above the mean level of the sea on the shores of the Baltic, which are quite unsheltered. An inundation could not fail to take place, against which all human exertions and precautions were utterly powerless. In the small town of Apenrode, alone, 90 houses have become uninhabitable, and nearly 280 families have not a roof over their heads. The news from Eckerforde is still worse. Entire streets have been literally annihilated, while many of the buildings left standing are undermined. The exact number of dwellings totally destroyed in Eckernforde cannot yet be ascertained, but it will not fall short of 100. Hundreds of inhabitants have lost everything. The news from the District of Oldenburg is most saddening. On the island of Fehmarn the sea broke through the dykes, and, out of 42 villages, the fields and property of only 11 escaped the flood.” “The entire coast of Western Pomerania and the island of Rugen, with its projecting peninsulas, and the smaller islands lying around it, have also most severely suffered. The long and narrow island of Hiddensoe, near Rugen, through which the sea once before forced its way, has been divided into two parts by a channel 17 feet deep. Two villages were completely inundated, and had to be abandoned by their inhabitants, numbering 57 families. Vitte was also entirely covered by the sea, and its inhabitants, 70 families, had to be rescued from the garrets by boats. Provisions, winter stores of all kinds, and fuel have been washed away or spoiled, and the wells are useless on account of the salt water with which they are filled.”