RIVER BURSTS ITS BANKS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 28001, 22 June 1956, Page 10

RIVER BURSTS ITS BANKS

SWOLLEN WAIKATO STILL RISING HUNDREDS OF ACRES UNDER WATER (New Zealand Press Association} AUCKLAND, June 21. People from Mercer to Huntly were anxious tonight as the steadily rising Waikato and Waipa rivers threatened floods worse than those in 1953. Swollen by accumulated water in the swamps, the Waikato was 10 feet above normal at Mercer and had already burst its banks in several places. It was still rising. A survey t\p to 9 p.m. showed that in the Raglan County hundreds of acres of iarmlands are inundated. Cattle will be evacuated by Army trucks tomorrow. Farmers stricken by the floods include two Rangiriri men who sold their herds today and moved out from their completely covered farms. Men were moving farm machinery to higher ground tonight as water appeared round the homestead of Mr S. R. Pearce at Churchill. At Mercer, residents in River road are ready to move out. and water is running into the Roose Shipping Company's timber mill on the river bank. Several back-country roads in the Rangiriri district may soon be blocked. The Meremere power station site is a sea of soggy clay. On the Whangamarino straight more than 150 yards of the Great South road are covered by water and southbound motorists have been warned to take the plains route through Paeroa. The river is across the Great South road in at least two other places, six miles south of Mercer and one mile south of Rangiriri. near the badly flooded swamp area. The road was still open to traffic tonight, but Automobile Association patrols feared that it might become impassable. Tlie Ministry of Works is confident that it can prevent the water coming on to the highway at Mercer. A grader was used today to build an 18 inch high wall of metal along the river side of the road, and by 9 p.m. the water was still nine to 12 inches below road level. Railway gangs are keeping one eye on the main trunk line and the other on the rising water. They are ready to call for sandbags and pumps. The main t-unk line, which was blocked by a slip at Kakahi. 190 miles south of Auckland, last night, is not expected to be open for traffic before 8 a.m. tomorrow. All expresses tonight were to be diverted through Stratford.