OTIRA FLOOD DAMAGE

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28473, 31 December 1957, Page 10

OTIRA FLOOD DAMAGE

Residents Tell Of Disaster

With floodwaters from the Otira river subsided and debris being cleared from the village, which before an evacuation on Friday had a population of 250 persons, the extent of the damage caused when the flooded Otira river tore through the area is becoming clear. Bulldozers have diverted the river back into its course by carving through the massive landslides which had blocked it and sent it through the centre of the town.

Persons reaching Christchurch yesterday said that the village had not been threatened during heavy rain on Thursday last, but without warning half a massive hillside collapsed into the river in the torrential rain.

Meteorological equipment was swept away by the flood but Otira had recorded 237 inches of rain for the year to last Monday. There had been at least 14 inches since Monday.

The sleeping population was warned of the flood threat at about 2 a.m. after the flooded river rose quickly behind the landslide barrier and swung out at a stop bank built near the power station to protect the township.

Power station employees woke sleeping residents and half an hour after the landslide the water smashed through the stopbank, cleaving a house in two, and raced at the town.

Through the centre of the town the water surged, around 51 houses which were evacuated in the dark, with huge boulders carried easily along thumping into the walls of houses as they went.

Residents making their escape from the flood were swept off their feet and it was amazing that no lives were lost in a situation that residents claimed yesterday had terrified the whole population. A car was swept away in the flood waters and a garage smashed and completely wiped off the ground. Half the electric power station was swept away. Line ballast in the shunting yard disappeared and water surged over the station platform. With flood waters receded, craters up to 10 feet deep have been revealed.

Yesterday a train arrived from Greymouth and got right into the destroyed Otira railway yard with line ballast for the Otira line. The train also carried more supplies for the population, swelled by 80 workers sent into the area to help repair the damage. Viewing the destruction yesterday, residents said that the flood had caused a disaster which had not been adequately described to the outside world.

“It is impossible to describe the situation here. The heads of the railways and State Hydroelectric Department are here and there are various ideas about the length of time it will take to have Otira placed back on the map. But we know no definite report can be given. What will happen here no-one really knows,” said one resident. Rebuilding work has settled to a routine of 10 -hours’ solid toil a day with a brief break for lunch, residents said. Earth moving equipment was converging on the area from many parts of the South Island to rebuild the vital rail centre. Much of the railway installation will have to be completely rebuilt. Among the population at present in the area are seven women who refused to leave their husbands when women and children were taken to Greymouth on Friday.