GREAT FLOODS IN N.S.W.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 125, 29 May 1925, Page 7

GREAT FLOODS IN N.S.W.

I SETTLERS' SORRY PLIGHT. DIFFICULTY OF RESCUE. RIVERS NOW FALLING. (By Cable— Press Association.—Copyright.) (Received 11.30 a.m.) SYDNEY, this day. The flood water? at Gundagai showed a drop of six inclios last night.. The last man in danger was rescued after IS hours up a tree. One hundred corn pickers and rabbiters are out of cmploymp.nt. At Canberra the waters have fallen 12 feet. Moruyt experienced the greatest flood on record. The coastal steamer Bermagui was carried bodily over the retaining wall an stranded many yards from the channel. In order to* refloat her the wall will have to be cut and the channel dredged to the river. Rain on Murrumbidgee watershed has now cease/1. FlooH waters are expected to reach Wagga Wagga to-day. The Shoalhaven Rive.r has commenced to drop. The Vass River rose 32 feet, which is Jen feet higher than any previous flood level. Many houses were washed away. The river levels at Goulhurn did not reach the height of a fortnight ago by two feet. Bridge approaches suffered severely. Two men were surrounded by floods. Une swam his horse ashore. The. other was washed away. Two others were carried away on top of a haystack. One swam to safety, the other was rescued from his perilous perch as the stack drifted down the river. Gundagai is 251 miles south-west of Sydney, on the Murrumbideee River, The river was 30ft above its summer level. The country round about is a sea of water, which invaded many of the houses to such depth that furniture is floating about. A number of people, have been rescued in boats. Many horses, cattle and nigs were drowned and their bodies drifted down the river with tons of cut hay, which was swept off the paddocks. Many acres of maize crops which were "ist ready for pullins were swept away. The damage is rerjortcd to bo enormous. In the Queanbeyan district, 104 miles south-west of Sydney, on the river of the same name, the flood is the highest on record. Several people are reported to be Hissing. Two motorists who were attemp-.'ng to force a passaee through a flooded creek were washed away and drowned. Early on Tuesday evening the water beg-an to encroach on the streets of the town and continued to rise ranidly throughout the night. Many residents were driven from their homes and spenta miserable night in the open. A drifting tree smashed the electric lishtinsr wires nnd plunped the town into darkness. This added to the other miseries and dangers of the situation. Later a suspension bridee which sDanned the river, and which heavy masses of driftine timber, wreckage and dead animals had weakened, carried away bodily. . Some houses collapsed and others were flooded to a depth of 10 and 12 feet. FAMILIES MAROONED. The water rose so quickly that many families who had retired for the night? l were marooned before they were aware of their danger. They had to be rescued in their night attire. Rescue work proceeded throughout the night. The great depth of the water and the floating debris made the operations dangerous. Two rescuing cars were swamped in the rushing flood and the occupants were swept out, but they were saved. Numbers of other people had narrow escapes. It is estimated that 100 families in the Queanbeyan district have been rendered homeless. They are shelterins in the nublic buildings and elsewhere. Public reV'ef has been arranged. Now that the flood waters are reced''"g- the town presents a sorry spectacle. The streets are deep in mud and Uttered w'tv, debris. The lands along the river f or many m'les are a sea of water. The damage is very serious. HIGHEST SINCE 1891. At Wagga ' Wagga, 309 miles southwest of Sydney, on the -Murrumbidgee, the river is at.the highest level since 1891. It is still rising, and a big body of water has yet to come down. The position is regarded as very serious. An urgent request has been received in Sydney to send flood boats. Already many residents have removed to the high ground in preparation for the worst. All the townships along the. Murrumbidgee River have been warned to ] :e----pare for big floods when the waters from the higher reaches come down within the Dfxt few days. Six boats have been sent to WaggaTVagga where the people ar3 at lever heat in order to mi.:imiS3 the elTeet of the coming flood. In response to a call from the Mayor volunteers aie assisting the residents in the lower area to remove their belonging?. Others are erecting barriers around the houses. At Gundagai the rescuers took two men from the roof of a submerged house and another from a log floating in the river. The Railway Department stated that miles of railway are still under water in the flooded areas, and there are numerous wash-aways. The services are dislocated. The weather is still unsettled over the southern districts with more rain, but. excepting where the upper waters of the river have st'll to arrive, the floods generally are subsiding. Sydney has so far escaped the storm, and it is now hoped that it will work itself out on the southern coast. Over lflin of rain were recorded at Moruya between Sunday and yesterday. The township was flooded, and from the widesnread fiats the farmers and their famines had to be rescued in boats at great risk. Some of the settlers were taken from the roofs of their houses. Many cattle and horses were swept away and crops were devastated. Alon«- the lower reaches of the Shoalhaven River timely warning enabled the fanners to remove their stock to h'cher land before the worst of the flood arrived. Widespread damage was done to maize and green crops, however. Four valuable racehorses, which were stabled at the Criterion Hotel, were brought safely through the swirling waters by their trainer. Communication with the townships of Braidwood and Araluen was cut off. The extent of the damage is unknown.— (A, and N.Z. Cable.)