European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a a the stars and stripes monday March 19,1990floods kill 8, leave 3,500 homeless Elba Ala. Apr two Days of flooding across Southern Alabama left at least 3.500 people homeless and killed eight others by sunday and one town remained a Muddy Pond a Day after its levee failed. Quot i cannot begin to imagine everything that s been lost or  said . Rep. Bill Dickinson after taking a helicopter tour of Elba where 1,500 people were evacuated after the pea River levee ruptured saturday. Sixteen inches of rain had fallen in the area in the two Days before the earthen Barrier gave Way. About 45 Miles downstream in Geneva emergency workers shored up another levee and continued evacuating residents who started leaving their Homes Friday night. Margaret Mixon emergency management director for Geneva county where about 450 people had fled said officials believed the Geneva levee would hold. But she added a i guess Elba was pretty confident  Rivers throughout Southern Alabama swelled to As much As 21 feet above flood Levels sunday As the water from the nearly non Stop Rains drained toward the Gulf of Mexico. State troopers said six people drowned Friday night in Covington county when a car fell into a rain swollen Creek where a Bridge had washed out. Two More people died the same Way saturday night in neighbouring Escambia county. About 200 people were forced to leave their Homes in Escambia. In the Montgomery area about 80 Miles Northwest of Elba some 500 people had to be evacuated As the Muddy Alabama River Rose to 19 feet above flood stage with an even higher Crest expected monday. The Chocta Ohatchee River was 21 feet above flood stage in the Southeast Alabama town of Newton about 30 Miles East of Elba and sheriffs deputies said some 500 people had been evacuated since Friday in Newton and surrounding Dale county. Evacuations in Covington Houston and Dallas counties brought the total number of evacuations to about 3,500. Most people were staving with friends or in motels and very few were in shelters said Lawrence Bowden of the Alabama emergency management Agency. In Elba the water receded slightly sunday gushing through a 100-foot Hole on the levees North Side and pouring Back into the pea River through a Large crack that formed on the South Side. But water still covered All but the tops of first Story windows at the Coffee county courthouse and the City a three Public schools were still submerged. On saturday water had reached second Story windows at the courthouse. Pumps would be used to help divert the current Back into the riverbed said William Fuller chief of the army corps of engineers emergency management division in Mobile. The water was up to the windows of Lela Wilson a one Story Home which she moved into about a week ago a it hurts. It honestly hurts. It seen like everything you work for. Vou wind up losing a she said. U Dickinson said Southeast Alabama should a certainly qualify for Federal disaster Relief once gov. Guy Hunt made a request to Federal emergency manage ment officials. B Elba mayor Fred Moore said he would talk with Hunt after officials assessed the damage which he estimated would run into millions of dollars in his town alone. Dickinson who carried a camera to photograph the damage pledged his Heln at the Federal level. Col. Larry Bonine the District Engineer for the corps of engineers in Mobile said it was too Early to Tell whether the Elba levee ruptured from the weight of the water or whether the River Rose higher than the Barrier and washed so much of it away that it gave in called  into springtime a amps Gus Schuettler Flowers curtsy and Retreat in the Breeze in Vlissingen the Netherlands. The City is one of Many Bright ened by blossoms As Parks and gardens gracefully Herald the arrival of Spring on  lights in sky reported across 4 states Kansas City to. Apr Bright lights in the sky puzzled observers in several states saturday night and authorities said the phenomenon Wasny to caused by space debris. People reported seeing strange lights a described variously As White streaks flashing lights or a fireball a in Missouri Southern Illinois Iowa and Arkansas. A spokesman for the North american defense come which tracks objects in space from Peterson fab in Colorado Springs colo., said the lights did t result from bits of a satellite or other Man made debris falling through the atmosphere. A we Are quite confident it is not caused by the reentry of Man made objects a said maj. Dick Adams a Norad spokesman. The lights could have been meteorites Adams said but he Wasny to sure because the Agency does t track natural Phenomena. The National weather service in St. Louis reported receiving numerous Calls some from people who said they saw a White Light followed by an explosion. A i was outside when it happened a said Highway patrol sgt. Thomas Lefaivre in Kirkwood mo., near St. Louis. A i saw a big Flash like one of my Halogen lights burned out. But then i noticed my lights were of and figured it must have been  dramatically increase teen suicide risk Washington apr teen agers on drugs Are at least three times More Likely to attempt suicide than drug free adolescents according to a study of patients at drug treatment centers. Or. Richard h. Schwartz a Vienna va., paediatrician who co authored a report published in the american journal of diseases of children said the research shows that drugs play a powerful role in the Large numbers of teen age suicides. Quot there a no question that the drugs themselves can Lead to depressive effects that Lead to suicide attempts he said. A the More easily obtainable is the drug the greater the Adverse effects. Suicide attempts increase  suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24-Ycar-old americans. In Virginia Schwartz said it is the second leading cause of death among this age group. Schwartz said his study involved testing and questioning 298 adolescent patients at four treatment centers he identified Only As being in three separate areas East of the Mississippi River. Two thirds of those surveyed admitted they had thoughts about committing suicide and 30 percent said they had made actual suicide attempts. Earlier studies said Schwartz showed that be tween 6 percent and 7 percent of the general population attempt suicide in adolescence. Schwartz said the patients in his study were Between 13 and 19 years old. Most 93 percent were White and 66 percent were male. The most popular drug among the group was marijuana with alcohol a Distant second. Other drugs such As cocaine and crack cocaine Angel dust and Ltd also were  those who attempted suicide 40 percent said they mad the tip my within eight hours after using drugs. Although there probably Are a multiple factors that Lead to suicide attempts Schwartz said the higher rate among drug users May be attributed to the depressive effect or a a lows that develops after using some drugs. A some drugs in and of themselves have depressive effects. Alcohol does and so does pc or Angel dust and Ltd a said Schwartz. For drugs that Are stimulants such As crack cocaine or cocaine a the depression is a rebound. They go up very High and the higher the High the lower the  a following a crack Binge for instance he said there will be an a almost intolerable depression and Many drug users see no Way out but suicide. A most of the suicide attempts were a of Low lethality a said Schwartz with 61 percent requiring no medical attention. But 10 percent tried to kill themselves at the wheel of a car and 8 percent tried to hang themselves. A about 15 percent of those attempting suicide spent time in intensive care a said Schwartz. A these were not superficial wrist slashing a but serious attempts that could have resulted in death without prompt medical care. The physician said he and his co author american University psychologist Alan l. Berman were a a astounded that almost half of the teens who seriously attempted suicide reported that lethal Means for doing it again were still in their family Homes. Schwartz said 23 percent of those who tried to kill themselves said their families continued to keep firearms and ammunition around the Home. A you cannot keep weapons at Home like that if there is an adolescent on drugs a he said. A a you can assume a one in nine Chance of multiple suicide attempts so you need to get rid of firearms. Among successful suicides there a a growing tendency to use  the study by Schwartz and Berman is in the March Issue of the american journal of diseases of children