WAIKATO FLOOD PAST PEAK

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28523, 28 February 1958, Page 8

WAIKATO FLOOD PAST PEAK

River Dropping At Ngaruawahia

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, February 27. The beleaguered towns of Huntly and Rangiriri surrounded by Waikato floodwaters may be past the worst of their long ordeal. The prediction of a peak to come may not be realised. Waikato Valley Authority engineers tonight assured residents that the “hump” of the flood in the Waipa river was flowing into the Waikato at the Ngaruawahia confluence without appreciably altering the level of the Waikato. This morning, the authority - forecast that the Waipa peak would reach the confluence of. the rivers about 8 p.m. At that hour, a reporter found the river level at Ngaruawahia nearly a foot below that of 24 hours earlier. He reported that this could be clearly seen along the river bank where muddied and flattened grass showed that the floodwaters had receded. Later in Hamilton, the chief engineer for the authority (Mr H. C. Jones) confirmed the unexpected reprieve. He said: “There is now no further cause for undue alarm by residents in the Huntly area. It should be realised that the sb-called ‘peak’ that has been descending is no more than a gradual increase in flood waters entering the Waikato from the Waipa.”

Mr Jones continued: “Residents of Huntly and those immediately downstream can therefore be reassured that overnight fluctuations will be of a minor nature. “Providing instructions from the Huntly authorities are observed any rise in levels should produce no further undue problems.” Mr Jones said the general tendency of levels downstream from Ngaruawahia would be to fall. Mr Jones was reluctant tonight to predict levels for areas downstream of Rangiriri. He said further information should be available tomorrow. The unexpected turn of events came as a great relief to members of the Waikato Valley Authority staff. Mr Jones himself has been working 20 to 21 hours a day since Monday. He had a break of only a few hours this afternoon before returning to his post.