FLOOD'S OUTLET TO SEA

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21715, 24 February 1936, Page 12

FLOOD'S OUTLET TO SEA

GAP IN BEACH AT WAIKUKU

ASHLEY RIVER NEARING NORMAL LEVEL

THOUSANDS OF VISITORS TO DAMAGED AREA

Thousands of Christchurch people who drove to Waikuku Beach yesterday, the first day on which complete road access to the beach had been gained, had a first-hand view of the ravages of the flood of Thursday and Friday last. The popular seaside resort was almost completely changed in appearance. The flood waters had cut a channel, more than 50 yards wide, through the sand dunes to the sea, giving an entirely new appearance to the beach. Much of the domain was still under water, and children were using parts of it as ponds in which to float rustic seats. Seaside houses still bore a high-water mark on them, proof in many cases that water had been above the window-sills, and great pools of stagnant water filled hollows on the tracks between the houses. The voluntary labour of male resident's at. the beach had yesterday morning created a temporary bridge across the last stretch of flood water entering the beach proper, and across this there must have passed thousands cf cars yesterday morning. Not many hours before the whole place had been feet deep under water. Big stretches of the read were still flooded, and slow and careful driving was required to reach the beach. . Only yesterday were the full stories told of those who had been at the beach when the flood was at its height, when low-lying houses had hurriedly to be forsaken for those higher up, the changing over process being, for many, full of danger, especially when small children had to be taken through water over their heads in depth.

Houses Isolated

The rush of flood waters, narrowing down to make the gap in the beach, had ruined a small bridge through the domain, washing one end of it away. Thus houses on the south side of it •were isolated. Until communication was restored it was necessary to pass food across to those who lived in them over a wire rope. Those who had to be taken from one side of the settlement to the other went in the hastilycommissioned "Waikuku ferry," a small rowing boat that proved its usefulness a thousand times over. Dotted at frequent intervals throughout the seaside settlement were sheaves of wheat, the property of some farmer perhaps miles away. The sheaves were mled on fences, or twined with gorse bushes on the beach itself, and told a graphic tale of the' havoc the flood h2d wrought in a belt of country nine miles wide. Owners of seaside houses who had had their motor-cars at the beach with them had been unfortunate. Mud had entered every part of the engines and it did not need an expert eye to see lhat much attention would have to be given these cars before they would •bring their owners back to the city again. Outside houses strips of linoleum, and articles of furniture of every description were spread on the sand in front of almost every house, taking advantage of the excellent drying weather.

Unfamiliar Sight Although most of the water had receded by yesterday Waikuku was- a way from normal, and the unfamiliar gap taking a fast flowing river out to sea, seemed as though it would stand a permanent reminder to thos? who life the beach of the floods of February, 1936. It was fortunate that the flood waters forced this outlet. Had they not. damage would have been incalculably worse, and houses might have been completely washed away. As many or more sightseers went to the Ashley river bridge, on the main road yesterday. Parts, of the road were still flooded, and' motorists m mid-afternoon had parked their cars on either side of the road for about a mile on the Christchurch side of the bridge, and walked on to inspect the damage. It was a sight worth going far to see. The sides of the bridge were piled high with wheat sheaves, the decking itself was covered with silt, and the north end of the bridge came to an abrupt end in midair. The approach on the northern side was completely washed away, and it was plain that its rebuilding will be a long and costly job.

River Almost Normal

The river itself was almost at normal v* B terday, although carrying a greater quantity of water than usual.

DAMAGE TO CROPS

SPROUTING OF STOOKED WHEAT

LOSSES LIGHTER THAN AT FIRST FEARED

The fine weather over the week-end gave farmers a chance to make a survey of thejr crop£, and in practicallyall districts, except the Rangiora County, ports of. the'south, and Banks Peninsula, it is generally agreed xhat the' heavy damage feared when the storm was at its height has not been done. That much grain has been spoiled is undoubted, and no final estimate of losses can be made until this week has shown what weather it will bring; but farmers in most districts are relieved to find, that damage to their crops is not likely to be as great as at iirst they thought. In a statement to "The Press" yesterday, Mr W. Stalker, chairman of the Rangiora County Council, said damage to the crops in the county was widespread. The wheat there was later than it was further up on the lighter land, and fully 75 per cent, of it was still out, some oi' it not cut. Many cf the crop, l , had been washed off the farms. Pea crops/some cut and some growing, had been ruined, and about 90 per cent, of the large potato crop in the Coldstream district would \be lost.' "Everybody was looking forward to a record year." Mr Stalker said, "but it has all been spoiled. The damage is appalling" Another district in which farmers are said to have suffered more heavily than others is about MaHikihi and St. Andrews inHhe south. Even the grain that was stacked suffered there, and ,it is feared that some farmers will lose nearly all their crop. Growers of cocksfoot on Banks Peninsu'.a have grave fears that much of the velue of their crops has gone. One of the largest growers estimated yesterday that half his crop had been knocked out, and he said others had suffered severely also. None of the crop had begun to germinate yet, however, and if the warm weather continued threshing could soon be started.

Crops in Gullies In other districts, the only farmers to suffer extensively seem to have been those whose crops were growing in gullies or on low-lying land. Some of the crops in gullies were swept against fences, but it is considered that parts of seme of them might be salvaged. The crops on low-lying ground were under water, but the rapidity with which the water has drained off gives hops that with good weather the damage will be comparatively small. Weather like yesterday's is not the best for drying the crops. Farmers would like to have a wind, from the north-west preferably. It is true that there is a good deal of sorouting crop in the stooks, and any loss that most farmers will suffer is likely to be through this. Some of the sprout :>! wheat will be usable, however since in normal years millers add a certain amount of it to the grist because it gives a belter baking loaf. Too much, however, would have a detrimental effect. Oats and barley have sprouted more than the wheat. Although the rain has done damage in many ways, it has been beneficial in at least one respect. The growth of feed in all parts of the country is extraordinarily vigorous, and a good foundation for autumn grazing seems assured.

Low-lying paddocks on either side of it were still under water however The acres oMand on which the flood had left stacks of soaked wheat, the farmhouses with ruined gardsns, huge logs washed against fences and gates, and the furniture of house after house left in the sun to dry were proof that few houses near the river had been unaffected by the flood.

Unprofitable Work

Much of the work which farmers in the belt from the Ashley to the Kowhai, which was worst aftecteu by the flood, have still to do is not evan salvage, but just hard and unprofitable work. Many of them have hours of heavy work ahead in burying dead stock. Others have to cut ruined and worthless crops to free the land of them, to build new fences almost all round their property, and replace and repair outbuildings which took the full force of the flood waters Motorists who went from Rangiora to Kaiapoi by the back road had the beet glimpse of actual flooding. Scores of acres on either side of the railway line near the Flaxton station were still under water, and only the tops of fence posts and occasional floating stooks of wheat could be seen from the road. There was still much surface water on the road, on which there had however been very little scouring.

RIVER PROTECTIVE WORKS

ACTI'AL DAMAGE 1 DONE BY ASHLEY

Three groynes washed away and several breaks in the stop-bank were found when the engineer in charge of the Ashle;y river protective works (Mr R. Mclntyre) and the District Public Works engineer, Mr F. Langbein, carried out an inspection of the flood damage on Saturday. "In every case of the failure of the bank, it was clear that the water had got over the top." Mr Mclntyre said after the inspection. No failures were due to the bank failing to withstand the pressure of,the water. The loss in the groynes would be about 32,000 cubic yards, with another 20.000 cubic yards in stop-banks. The flood was the biggest in'the Ashley. An accurate estimate of the flow of water would be nearer 80,000 cubic feet a second than the 60.000 at first mentioned. As the scheme had been built to withstand a ilood of only 44,000 cusccs, or 70,000 cusecs with the water flowing level with the top of the banks, it was remarkable that the damage was not greater. Groynes which were a complete loss were near Mr J. W. Brosnan's farm at Fernside, at the mouth of the Makerikeri river and near Mr H. I. Mehrtens's farm at Coldstream. The gabion head of the groyne at the rifle range was damaged, but this groyne probably saved Rangiora. There are gaps in other groynes, but most of them are intact. Breaks in the stop-bank were seen at Fernside near the Mount Thomas road and at the old Fernside camp. Two breaks above the engineer's office flooded the upper camp. Gangs are ready to begin work today, and repairs will be made shortly. A survey to collect data and compute the volume of water which was carried by the river will be carried out immediately. All relief workers who were employed at the beginning of last week will receive full pay for the week and from to-day those who are not working will receive sustenance until they are employed again.

MOST ROADS NOW PASSABLE

PASSENGER SERVICES BY RAIL RESUMED

QUICK RECOVERY FROM EFFECTS OF FLOOD

Except that the Main North road is impassable between Omihi and Cheviot, in the Waipara County, and at the Ashley bridge washout, practically all the arterial roads in the province will now carry traffic, speedy repair work and the receding of the flood waters having aided in restoring communication by road. All railway passenger services resumed on Saturday and will now run to their ordinary schedule. By using the old bridge over the Ashburton river, the Railway Department was able to avoid haying to transfer passengers over the river by "bus, which had been necessary through damage to the approaches to the new bridge. The route north will probably be open on Tuesday. Several secondary roads are still impassable, partly because of the damage caused bv the flood, and partly because swollen rivers and streams now across them. In most cases, however, transport is not hindered, for deviations and detours are being used'. Many counties "find that the damage to thenroads is less than was at first feared. The main tasks will be the repair of scours, the grading of road surfaces which have been washed by the floods, and maintenance work. In the Rangiora county the damage to roads is estimated at £SOOO.

By Saturday every railway service in the province had been restored except that on the Oxford branch of the north line, which is used only three times a week for goods traffic. This was a swift recovery considering that fresh mishaps, including the damage to the Ashburton bridge on the main south line and the blocking of the line to the West Coast some distance past Springfield, occurred on Friday, after the flood had begun to recede. Members of many departments of the railways worked long hours during the dislocation of services, some of the busiest men being those in the trainrunning branch, who, as well as their usual work, had a spate of telegrams and telephone enquiries to deal with.

South Line The change-over from the new to the old bridge over the Ashburton river was effected by about 9.30 a.m. on Saturday, and all trains after and including the first express were able to get through, though they had to travel slowly over the part of the line which had been deviated from the new bridge. The old bridge has not been in use for about two months, and though the work of dismantling had begun it was still in good enough condition to be used until repairs to the new bridge are made. The old bridge was about 25 feet longer than the new one, and withstood the flood v/aters successfully. Work "will be speeded up on the repairs to the new fridge, but it will be some days before they are completed. There will be no further interruption to the service to the southern line and yesterday's excursion trains between Timaru and Christchurch ran as usual. The second express from the south was 12 minutes late on Saturday evening, about five minutes only being lost through the deviation over the old bridge. Special goods trains ran on Saturday to remove the goods which had accumulated at Ashburton and Tinwald, but traffic is now normal. All that is unusual on the north line, which opened again on Friday, is that trains must pass slowly over some parts where there have been washouts, especially near Sefton, Balcairn, and Rotherham. The blockage of the Oxford branch line near Cust will probably be removed by mid-day today. As goods trains run on this line only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sat-" urdays, only one service has had to be cancelled—that on Saturday. Thursday's train got through. The Southbridge line was open again on Saturday, when the wash-out caused by an accumulation of water near the Ellesmere station was repaired. Saturday's evening train from Christchurch to Southbridge ran to schedule and a train which was cut off at Southbidge from Thursday returned to the city. There was no hold-up to traffic on the West 'Coast line on Saturday, the wash-out between Kowai Bush and Springfield being attended to in good time. Special goods trains from Christchurch and Greymouth yesterday disposed of the goods, which had been left at Springfield and Arthur's Pass.

The railway excursion to Mount Somers for the "mystery hike" and for the camp of the First Battalion of the Canterbury Regiment was cancelled.

Travel By Road

As yet cars can travel no farther north than about Motunau, as a bridge in the Giota district has been washed away. Thu Waipara County Council hopes lhat the main road wiJl'be clear again l:y to-morrow, and it has a gang of men working on the strengthening of the bridges that suffered in the flood. The road northward from Parnassus is open, and several cars, travelling from the north, have been put on the railway there. The inland route from Kaikoura is impassable, as two rivers are blocking the road, though the surface of the road itself 's in fair order. It may bs somo days before the riverr. subside sufficiently 1o allow traffic through

In the Kowai County. Marshman's road, between Doud's and Vallance's roads, and Lawcocks road, Ambcrley, are closud to all traffic, through damage to bridges. Motorists in the Rangiora county ere asked to use every care when crossing roads and bridges. The main road south is quite clear, the principal evidence of the flood being a layer of shingle on the road between Selwyn and Dunsandel. where the Selwyn river overflowed. The Ashburton traffic bridge is safe, but drivers are advised to cross slowly. In. the Selwyn County, Camping Gullyford, two miles east of the Rakaia Gorge bridge, on the Darfleld-Arundel main highway, is impassable. The ford will certainly be open by to-morrow night, and perhaps by to-night. The A.shburton Gorge road at the Stour bridge and the Ashburton-Stave-ley main highway at the Roxburgh bridge are both closed to all traffic, and anoiher impassable road in MidCanterbury is the Chertsey road, between Rakaia and Methven. The closed portion hn« been flagged at both ends, and electric lights will illuminate it at night. The water-races which prevented traffic between Springfield and Cass on Friday, have now subsided, and the main road to the West Coast is again open.

Motorists Endangered

Through their oar running into a cutting l-ear Springbank, when the Ashley river had burst its banks, three motorists were almost trapped by fast rising waters. Mr R. Marshall, of Springbank, Mrs Frizzell, and Mr M. Frizzell, her son, were returning from Rangiora, and when the car reached a rise leading down into the cutting, the driver, Mr Marshall, seeing turbulent waters blocking his way, applied his brakes. However, they failed, the car plunged on into the stream, the engine stopped, and with water rising swifUy about them, the three persons were in a dangerous predicament. They scrambled out and managed to grasp a wire fence. The car was borne by the flood against the fence, and the three were able to reach it, and with the help of the fence to climb to -afely. When the car was rescued from the stream by a tractor, the water was almost over the roof. Thnug.v warned that he could not get through, Mr F. M. Ritchie set out in a 14-year-old motor-car from Kaikoura on Friday and made the trip to Christchurch in 12 hours, though he has held his driver's license only a fortnight. He crossed the south bank of

the Conway river with difficulty as the ground ci.mbled as the car passed over if At Parnassus he was fold that he would ru;t be able to cross the Rangatum bridge, but he found it quite solid His car was stuck in a creek in the Greta district, where one bridge had been washed away, and it required the efforts of 10 men to haul the car out. The engine of the car gave Mr Ritchie some anxiety, but he managed to complete the journey, though he had to cross a bridge south of Ambuley with two wheels on the embankment and the other two on sixinch plar.ks.