THE LONDON FLOODS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 84, 19 January 1928, Page 5

THE LONDON FLOODS

SAFETY OF EMBANKMENT. QUESTION OF PRECAUTIONS. THE CORONER NOT SATISFIED. (Per Press Association —Copyright.) (“Sun” Cable.) ( Received This Day, 1.20 p.m.) LONDON. January 18. At the inquest on 10 of the Westminster flood victims the Coronei, delivering his verdict, said he was no i satisfied that sufficient attention had I been paid to safety of certain sections; of the Embankment. I ■ A policeman gave evidence that watei , was often flowing from the walls in ( high tides. He did not report it be-. cause he did not think in dangerous. The Town Clerk of Westminster said There was a breach of 165 feet in Grosvenor Road and two breaches in the Duke of Westminster’s property. Ine council controlled neither. . The County Council’s chief engineer o-ave evidence tliat the river-front was regularly surveyed and showed no instability. The tide at Westminster on January 7 was at least a foot above the century’s record, and was mje.xpeetedly phenomenal. Water jets had never occurred sufficiently to cause alarm where the walls were now collapsedThe Coroner emphasised that the disaster was due to unprecedented conditions. Water was heaped at the mouth of the Thames simultaneous with an unusual tide. An enormous amount i>f water was descending, therefore it would he unreasonable to blame anybody. ________