FLOODING IN CITY AND COUNTRY

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24640, 9 August 1945, Page 4

FLOODING IN CITY AND COUNTRY

Suburban And Kaiapoi Homes Evacuated

HEAVY SNOW FOLLOWS IN SOME DISTRICTS

Flooding, followed by snow in some districts, was general in Canterbury yesterday. In Christchurch 40 families in the Shirley, district were forced to leave their homes, and some residences were also evacuated at Sunnier and Radley. Although the flood was two feet lower than in May, 1923, at Kaiapoi, the rising of the Cam river caused 200 persons to leave their homes, boats being used. i High tide last evening was a crucial hour for Kaiapoi, and residents were relieved when it came and the flood had dropped two inches. Most of the city districts that were severely flooded on May 19 escaped lightly, although Radley, bordered by a difficult, slow section of the Heathcote river, had another bad flooding and Shirley experienced a deep flood. Most parts of Sumner were inundated, the water pouring off the hills to aggravate the surface flooding. No part of the city escaped flooding of varying depths, gardens being swamped in most suburbs. Water was lying deep in places which for many years had not been flooded. ■ f

At midnight the weather in Christchurch had improved greatly. The rain was light then. Beginning with a light shower shortly after 10 a.m. on Monday, the rain was incessant until 10 o’clock last evening, the fall recorded in the city for the three days being 5.03 inches. The fall on Monday was .28 inch, on Tuesday 2.88 inches, and yesterday 1.87 inches. Quick falls of temperatures, from the back country to near the coast in parts of the province, brought heavy snow, which lay deep on,the sodden and cold ground and added to the perplexities of farmers. The floods and the snow make spring sowing a most remote possibility, and an additional immediate loss of stock has to be faced by farmers. The winter has been the most severe for many years, and the economic loss of production in Canterbury is incalculable.

KAIAPOI • About 200 persons were evacuated from their homes in Kaiapoi on Tuesday night and yesterday, and large areas, mainly in the. north-west parts of the town, were inundated. Employees of the Kaiapoi Borough Council worked all Tuesday night evacuating families by bojts and trucks. The evacuees were housed in the borough hall and with friends. , In the area around the Cam river the most serious flooding occurred, and nearly all houses in Peraki, Otaki, Akaroa, and Sneyd streets were evacuated. It was considered that there was no danger of the Eyre river breaking its banks, and the business area of the town was clear. , In some places near the Cam river the water was about four feet deep, and entered houses by the windows It was feared that the full tide would bring worse flooding, but shortly after full tide the water had fallen by about two inches. • Considerable losses of pigs, sheep, and poultry were reported. The rain eased off during the evening, and had stopped by 10 p.m. OXFORD Rain began to fall at Oxford on Monday morning, and up till yesterday five inches nad been recorded. On Tuesday morning 2.13 inches of rain fell, and this was followed by 2.87 inches yesterday. Snow began to fall on Tuesday night, and yesterday it was falling thickly. The temperature was very low. All creeks and watercourses are in flood. ' Stock are suffering badly, and farmers have to strain their resources to supply sufficient food. Lambing is now coming on ifc the district, and heavy mortality is expected in both ewes and lambs. All farming activities, already hampered by the recent fall of snow, have been effectually stopped. CHEVIOT In Cheviot the, rain was heaviest during Tuesday night. From 5 p.m. on Tuesday ‘until the ,rain stopped at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. 3.38 inches were recorded, making a total of 8.32 inches since the beginning of the Sunday. ' The county foreman said that bridges and approaches were still sound, but many roads had been scoured. However, only four of the county roads were blocked to traffic. These were the ’■ Leamington, the Leader, Port Robinson, and the Hurunui mouth roads. Mam highways are open to Cheviot and as far as Parnassus. A passenger bus was stranded at Cheviot on Tuesday, but left at 5.30 fast evening. The Leamington and Waiau rivers are running m full, flood, and the Leamington river burst, its banks and inundated a large area of farm land, Residents say that the rivers are running practically as high as in the floods of 1923. CULVERDEN Heavy rain since yesterday morning has caused widespread flooding in the Amuri district. There is more than a foot of water in some of the lowlying houses in Culverden, and the residents have evacuated them. Rivers and creeks are all in high flood. HANMER SPRINGS After more than 30 hours of continuous rain, snow began to fall at Hanmer Springs shortly before 9 p.m. on Tuesday. It was still falling yesterday afternoon. Telephone communication with Christchurch was lost early yesterday, and electric ' power was disrupted several times during the day. ASHBURTON Snow up to 10 inches deep, and heavy flooding from surface water occ—red«in districts throughout the Ashburton County on Tuesday evening and yesterday morning. The total rainfall from Monday evening until yesterday morning varied from 393 points in the districts near the foothills, to 380 points at Ashburton. Large sheets of water, several inches deep, were spread over farmlands, filling all natural hollows and running out on to roads. No roads were completely blocked, but some were impassable to light cars. The floodwater reached its highest point late on Tuesday night, and began to recede yesterday morning. Water was about five inches deep across the Main South road in several places between Winslow and Hinds, and it banked up on the west side of the railway line in the Windermere and Hinds districts. The areas most affected were the coastal districts cf Tinwald. Waterton, Ashdown. Wheatstone, Flemington, and Huntingdon, the farm lands of which were tompletely flooded. On many of the roads in these districts water was lying to a depth cf 15in. Much of the farmland in this area has been heavily waterlogged for months. The mail-car did not run from Longbeach to Ashburton yesterday. The Hinds river, reaching its highest level at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, piled up a large amount of debris against the Poplar road bridge and a considerable quantity of water was flowing along the Maronan road, and across the Main South road at Chertsey. Water from Dry creek, in the Methven district, flooded all the roads in the Lauriston township. The road from Lauriston to Cairnbrae. and the Methven-Chertsey road also carry a large quantity of water. Heavy Snowfall at Methven Snow to a depth of nine inches in the districts near the foothills reached as far down as Springfield. Behind Methven there were 12in at Mount Hutt, which broke xlown the electric supply wires and poles. The engineer to the Asburton County Council (Mr R. L. Lindsay) said last evening that the sides of the bitumen road between Ashburton and Methven were badly scoured out in places, and motorists should take care, particularly at night, because the scoured portions were disguised by the snow. Bridges of shingle deposit were also across the bitumen in several places.

TWO MORE LINES BLOCKED

INTERRUPTED RAIL • SERVICES

BLENHEIM PASSENGERS TAKEN THROUGH INANGAHUA

Two further line blockages were reported by the Railways Department yesterday, though the most serious damage from the rain is still that on the north route. Reports received at the department’s Christchurch pffices late yesterday afternoon indicated that heavy rain was .still falling- in affected districts, and that the full extent of the damage .that had been caused would not be known until the flood waters have subsided. New blocks reported yesterday were slips and wash outs on the line between Southbridge and Lincoln and wash-outs on the Eyreton branch line. The main line is clear as far as Parnassus, but re-establishment of traffic north of that point will probably take some days. A big slip in the Hawkswood cutting, between Parnassus and Hundalee, and a slip over the public road between Parnassus and OaTo may be cleared in another day, according to a report from the department tn Christchurch last evening, though it will not be known till later ,to-day whether the express service will be through on Friday. The -slip at the Blue Slip north of Kaikoura is more extensive, however, and is expected to take several days to clear. Yesterday passengers from Blenheim were taken by road to Inangahua, and from there arrangements were made to bring them to Christchurch by railcar, the rail-car service having been strengthened by an extra car. Slips in the Weka Pass which have blocked the Waiau branch line are not expected to fake more than a day to clear. ROADS TRAVEL NOT ADVISED ON OTHERS Many roads in Canterbury are still blocked from flood waters, and because of surface water and reports of snow in some rural areas, the Canterbury Automobile Association last evening advised motorists , not to travel on a number of other roads. The main south road was closed from 6 p.m. because of a blockage near Dunsandel, where for about two miles the road was substantially under water. There were 18 inches to two feet at Dunsandel, 12 inches at Chertsey, nine inches at the Temuka deviation. ana 18 inches at Makikihi.

The main north road was reported last evening to be clear as far as Motunau, with slips from there to Kaikoura blocking traffic. Foster’s cutting will be closed to-day, though a Public Works Department bulldozer will be sent there this morning.

Slips in the Weka Pass were re§orted clear, and the road to Hanmer prings passable. The Leeston road is still blocked at the Ellesmere bridge, where the approaches are about two feet under water through the overflow of the Selwyn river.

The road to the peninsula is passable only as far as Little River. There are slips at Duttons, half way to Hilltop. Christchurch-Akaroa buses transferred passengers there yesterday. Owners of small cars were advised not to travel to Oxford, considerable water lying on the road between Gust and Bennetts and snow being reported in the Oxford district last evening. Seven inches of snow were reported to have fallen at Coalgate by last evening, and three inches at Darfield, making motor-travel inadvisable.

COLERIDGE POWER BREAKDOWN LINES BURNED OUT SUPPLY RATIONED IN TWO AREAS Heavy snow beyond Hororata caused the breakdown of all three electric power supply lines from Lake Coleridge to Christchurch from 11 a.m. yesterday. One line was repaired by 8.5 p.m., and the other two lines will be repaired to-day. The damage occurred near The Point. The disruption was caused when snow dropped from the lower lines, which whipped upwards, caught the upper lines, and burned through. No lines broke under the weight of nine inches of snow. When Mr R. G. MacGibbon (district electrical engineer) left Hororata at 8 o'clock, snow, “heavy and sticky,” was still falling.

Concentration '.vas made on the restoration of one line as far as possible before darkness, said Mr Mac Gibbon. The work was difficult in the snow, but he was confident Jhrt the remaining two lines would be repaired today.

During the break, Christchurch obtained its power supply from the Highbank and Waitaki stations, which always run in parallel, and from standby plants. Mr Mac Gibbon said that the consumers of Christchurch were to be commended for reducing their use of power by cutting off unnecessary appliances during the breakdown of Lake Coleridge supply. Two residential" feeders—Papanui and Linwood—were cut off by the Municipal Electricity Department from 11.50 a.m. 1o 12.5 p.m. These were the only two areas which had any break in supply. Mr J. C. Forsyth, chief electrical engineer of the Municinal Electricity Department, said last evening that the advice of a power shortage was received from the Public tvorks Drpm ment at the most critical period of load during the day. and rationing of supply to the two residenti:l areas was found necessary

No damage to the city’s electric supply installations had been caused by the rain or flooding, said Mr Forsyth.