THE FLOODS IN NORTH CANTERBURY.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14407, 15 July 1912, Page 7

THE FLOODS IN NORTH CANTERBURY.

On Saturday the flooding caused by tho combined forces of the Eyre and Cust rivers at. their lowest reach was, if anything, worse than on Friday. Tlio drain road and line side roads at Flaxton were not safe for traffic. All tho country was a perfect sea, and although tho outfall into tho Waimakariri was fairly good, and that river at the Kaiapoi bridge went down three feet at low tide, it will bo some days beforo tho floods get off some hundreds of acres of arable land- Tho height of tho Evrc overflow towards Ohokn was Bit higher than at. Wilson's siding, on which the heavy current impinged, nnd from Neeve's corner to the outfall of the Kaikainui creek, in which another escapo from the" Eyre took place, thc decline was from 15ft or 16ft to 7ft. These two streams covered somo hundreds of acres more than the last December floods, or of tho previous July. In fact, they equalled the deluge of tho Jubilee year flood, on July 6th r 1887, and stood a fair comparison with tho Easter inundation of 1874. as well as >f September, 1890, on which occasion railway traffic at Flaxton was susprided practically for a fortnight. F.iday evening's train passengers for Ohoka and Bennetts wero conveyed by a three-horse drag from Kaiapoi to Wilson's Siding. At Wavcrley thero was over 3ft r.f water on tho road which entered tho floor of tho vehicle. The strong force cf the currents and floating logs of timber made the journey in tho dark, lighted up by two lamps on the dreg, a somewhat adventurous one.

There was a considerable quantity of shingle washed out of tho Eyro overflow on to the farm of Mr Burgess at Clarkvillo, in "some plaoss to a depth of 3ft.

Aboil; fifty sheep, valued at 20s each, which wero on a knoll of land surrounded by tho flood near Mr T. D. Blackmore's farm at Eyreton Junction, were ultimately rescued without loss.

A part of the Cam road near Kaiapoi was subjected fo the flood on Friday night, but yesterday the water had gone down.

It was reported en Saturday that the approach to tho Black bridge, Surveyor's road, Longboach district, had been washed away by the flood, nnd that one of the piles had been scoured out. Mr C- Morrison, tho county overseer, visited the locality during the day and found that tho damage done vras not so serious as reported. A good deal of scouring hat! taken place and the bridge had sagged down about nino inches in tho c_ntrc, but all the piles wero still standing.