THE FLOODS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 45, 2 December 1939, Page 7

THE FLOODS

EFFORT TO PREVENT DAMAGE. USE OF 10,000 SANDBAGS; (Per Press Association). BLENHEIM, December 1. Ten thousand sandbags were idled by River Board workmen and farmers on the banks of the Wairau River this morning in efforts to prevent the swollen river topping the stopbanks and flooding the rich agricultural land of the surrounding countryside. Sumultaneously the River Board staff, augmented for tho occasion, laboured till midnight cutting a 500 yards-wide channel through the boulder bank at I the Wairau bar to give the accumulated floodwaters a more direct exit to the sea. All told the board had more than 100 men engaged in a desperate fight against the flood last night, in addition to settlers who laboured in their own interests on the stopbanks next to their properties; In some instances the measures taken were effective, but there were places where the water rose so swiftly and to such an extarordinary height that it soon poured a foot or more in depth over the embankments, already raised as much as three feet above normal. This water inundated the extensive areas of Spring Creek and the lower Wairau districts, but the worst inundation resulted from breaching from the stopbanks on the Tuamarina side, where farmhouses were invaded and valuable crops swept by the water. The plight of settlers was made unhappier by interruption to the power supply, due apparently to the washing out of poles carrying cables across the Wairau.

Although less than half an inch of rain fell here in the 24 hours to 9 a.m., torrential rain in the back country fed all rivers in the province last night, resulting in the Wairau, already heavily swollen, rising 16 feet 6 inches above normal, one of the highest points ever reached.

All the road outlets', except that to the West Coast, were closed by the floods, and communications were still interrupted this evening. The last train to Picton for probably several days got through yesterday afternoon. The water was then six feet below the level of the bridge at Spring Creek, but a few hours later the railway line was under water.

NELSON-BLENHEIM ROAD OPEN.

TRAIN SERVICES DISLOCATED. NELSON, December 1. Heavy flooding blocked all highways for 24 hours before midday, when the waters had receded sufficiently to allow some services, including those to Blenheim, to resume. Train services were dislocated today because of a wash-out of 150 yards at Brightwater. A relief train is working in an effort to resume schedules tomorrow, but is meeting with extreme difficulty with the Waimea river still in heavy flood. Two spans of the Dart Bridge at Wangapeka have been washed away. The Riwaka River has overflowed, inundating a wide area and destroying areas of tobacco plantations. ■Many roads are still flooded, and wide areas are covered on the Waimea plain and Golden Bay. v LOSS OF STOCK FEARED, DAMAGE IN SOUTH WESTLAND. GREYMOUTH, December 1. After heavy rain the Little Wanganui River, in South Westland, broke through tbe protective embankment early yesterday morning arid flow'ed into La Fontaine Creek and flooded a large area of country near Hari Hari. About two-thirds of the Little Wanganui River fs now flowing into fhe La Fontaine Creek and Preston’s Road is a sheet of water. The only means of transport to the two sawmills and to the farms on that road is by boat. About 100 yards of the embankment has been swept away and if the La Fontaine Creek should silt up" further damage to the lower part of the Hari Hari flat is likely. A wide area of the Poerua settlement was covered by the flood water and loss of stock is reported to llave been fairly heavy. Some stock was also lost on the lower part of the Hari Hari flat. Because the rain ceased on Thursday afternoon tho flood water is gradually going back, although the river is still flowing into the La Fontaine Creek at tho back of the Inter-Wa-nganui Dairy Factory. The engineer to the Westland County Council (Mr W. F. Ashley) travelled to Hari Hari yesterday morning to inspect the area, where it is thought that steps should at once he taken to divert the river back to its usual course to remove the menace to the whole of the Hari Hari district. There is in the district a bulldozer belonging to the Public Works Department, and it is suggested that this will probably be used on the work. I

Considerable flooding, it is also reported, lias taken place in the Waitangi River, near Wataroa, South Westland, and damage has been caused to farms.

Very heavy rain fell at Hokitika on Wednesday and Thursday causing heavy flooding of the Hokitika River. Considerable anxiety was experienced by the residents of the lower lying portions of the town yesterday in case their premises were flooded. Several of the streets were inundated and some of the shops were unable to do business because of the approaches of the premises being under water. However, at 2 p.m. the river bggan to fall and the danger of a serious visitation was passed, the water gradually clearing away during the afternoon. As a result of the. flooding of the river the huge sandbank at the entrance has been cleared away and the river now has a direct run to the sea.

The south protective work at the river mouth, which has been in a precarious condition for a long period, disappeared during the flood, the wooden piles and structure going out to sea.