FLOODS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 145, 21 June 1934, Page 9

FLOODS.

HEAVY TOLL.

A WIDE AREA.

LOSSES OF STOCK.

DESERTED HOMES AND CAMPS SETT"" ZRS HARD PRESSED. While the weather was fine in the city to-day, and while the position as regards pastures, road and rail in the near North—between Auckland and' Whangarei—approaches the normal, there are serious floods at and near Whangarei itself, and also in the lower province from Mercer southwards. Reports from the South tell of more rain and fast-rising rivers, of flooded highways where no traflic is possible, °of thousands of acres of pastures under water, and loss of stock. Settlers in the Whangarei district have had to quit their homes, some of them escaping through oft of water. The big Hikurangi Swamp is inundated, while there are fears for heavy losses of stock. One farmer says the only hope for 80 of his dry stock would be their ability to swim to higher ground. Ho himself can do nothing. From the Taupiri district comes a tale of distress among the relief workers, of camps that have had to be abandoned, and of bedding that could be saved only through being floated away on rafts. In the district, between Orini and Te Hoe, five camps for married men, aggregating 250 persons, have had °to°be abandoned. They have been flooded out, and it was necessary for the relief workers with their wives and children to seek sanctuary, building rafts and pontoons to shift their effects. The homeless families found a weary way to Te Hoe and Orini, where they were billeted in halls until further arrangements could be made. The whole district is like an inland sea, while the road from Taupiri to is impassable. Nevertheless, reports give the meagre comfort that the rivers no longer continue to rise. 1 Slowly but surely the main ways of access to the north are being restored, though much in the way of detours may still be necessary. In the far North the Dargaville-Whangarei highway is under water, though traflic is passing through the Houtu detour. Traffic between Auckland and Whangarei was resumed late yesterday afternoon, though there, is still trouble in the Dome Valley. Rail arrangements between Auckland and Whangarei arc now normal, though the position north of the latter town is uncertain. Between Paeroa and Te Aroha the flooding of rivers has submerged the line for the time being, and rail communication to Thames was suspended for the day.