Continued Rain Brings Floods To Some Areas

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28888, 7 May 1959, Page 14

Continued Rain Brings Floods To Some Areas

Continued southerly rain, experienced in most parts of Canterbury yesterday, brought flooding and slips to some areas. There was bad flooding at Little River, with the road impassable in the township and a detour necessary. Some persons were evacuated from their houses.

Tlqavy rain also caused slips on the Christ-church-Akaroa road near Hilltop and on the roads near Diamond Harbour. At midnight .85in of rain had been recorded from 9 a.m. at Christchurch Airport. In the 24 Hours to 9.30 a.m. yesterday there was almost 3in of rant

Although no disruption to telephone communications and power services in Christchurch yesterday had occurred, there were reports of more surface flooding on roads in the Waltham, Opawa and Huntsbury areas. Water stretched right across the road in several places. Little River had had 53in of rain in the 24 hours up to 8 p.m. and it was still raining heavily then. The road was impassable at the Little River garage and traffic had to make a detour through the railway yard.

Some persons were vacated from their homes, and stock was removed from the lower levels near Lake Forsyth. Power went off at Little River at 5 p.m. on Monday, was restored at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, but went off again a few hours later and was not restored again until late on Tuesday evening. Power Board workers had trouble in getting a transformer from Duvauchelle to Little River because of the flooded roads. Yesterday afternoon Lake Forsyth was only Ift below the level at which it is usually opened, but it would be very difficult to make an opening under the present heavy southerly conditions. Men and machines worked all day yesterday to keep the hill sections of the Little RiverAkaroa road open. There were many slips and last evening it was still raining. A Ministry of Works spokesman said: “Anything could happen.” Although it was still raining in Akaroa, the weather was less severe and the rain was abating. Diamond Harbour Diamond Harbour was cut off from both directions by road There was a slip across the main road—and a burst water main—at Morgan’s gully, on the Church Bay side, and the Purau-Port Levy road was closed by a chainlong washout near Purau. The slip in Morgan’s gully was cleared by mid-afternoon. Because of the broken water main, part of the eastern side of Diamond Harbour was without water but it was expected that the water main would be repaired by the evening. The Ministry of Works had no reports of trouble except on Banks P,eninsula, and all other roads are understood to be open. A slip was reported on the Gebbie’s Pass road near the summit but the road was still open. There was surface flooding on several parts of the Main South road between Christchurch and Ashburton where rain had backed up in hollows, according to the Automobile Association. This surface water was expected on the road in bad weather, said the chief service officer (Mr B. A. Anderson).

Heavy rain in the Dunsandei district caused surface flooding on the Main South road at Rolleston where the water was s few inches deep. It was feared that the continuing rain would cause the flooding to spread. At Flaxton, 100 to 200 acres in the basin area between the Skew bridge and the Cam river was under water last evening. Oxford reported no flooding, but there was steady rain there, and up to 8 a.m. yesterday 1.12 in had been recorded for 24 hours Another .71 in fell in the 12 hours up to 8 p.m. yesterday. Ashley River

Tributaries of the Ashley river and the river itself were running fairly full last evening, but no flooding was expected unless the rain continued for another two days. There was more than 3in oi rain at Lees Valley yesterday and this was the main cause of the Ashley’s moderate flood. No damage from floods in the Ashley area had been reported to the North Canterbury Catchment Board last evening. “None of the other rivers have much water in them. We have been very lucky with little rain

in the foothills,” said the chief engineer (Mr H. M. Reid). The rivers could flood, however, if heavier rain fell in the foothills. Heavier rain and colder temperatures were reported in Kaikoura and Culverden. A strong southerly wind blew throughout the day in Kaikoura with showers of driving rain and there was a good covering of snow on the Kaikoura ranges. About 88 points of rain were recorded at Culverden yesterday and there were heavy showers of southwesterly rain. By 6 p.m. yesterday, 59 points of rain had been recorded for the day at Springfield and at 8 a.m. yesterday 79 points had been recorded. There were no reports of flooding or, of snow. Although it had been raining fairly steadily in the Ashburton county from about 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, there appeared to be little danger of flooding late last evening as the rain had been mostly coastal. Since the rain began, 2.66 inches had fallen by 10 p.m. yesterday in the Ashburton Borough. From 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. yesterday 1.22 inches fell, bringing the total for the month to 2.69 inches. The heaviest rain had fallen in coastal areas where it had been welcomed by farmers on the lighter land. Up to 10 p.m., 1.60 inches had fallen at Hackthorne and up to 5 p.m., 1.18 inches had fallen at Pendarves, which is about 13 miles from Ashburton. Inland areas have also been experiencing fairly heavy falls of rain but not as severe as falls near the coast. Up to '9 a.m. yesterday 1.08 inches were recorded at Highbank. Late last evening it was still raining steadily in most areas although the cold southerly wind had dropped slightly.

GALE DELAYS HINEMOA

Ship Berths 90

Minutes Late

Steaming all night against a southerly gale, the Hinemoa arrived at Lyttelton yesterday morning more than one hour and a half behind schedule. For more than 12 hours the ship battled through heavy seas and berthed a little after 8.30 a.m. A strong south-west wind was met soon after the Hinemoa left Wellington heads. High seas broke over the bow and a bridge window was broken. This was the only damage. The captain stayed on the bridge throughout the voyage. For the comfort of the passengers the ship’s speed was reduced. By the time the Kaikoura coast was reached the Hinemoa was about an hour behind schedule. Conditions did not improve between Kaikoura and Lyttelton and more time was lost. The small coastal vessel. Hotunui. which should have arrived at Lyttelton on Monday night from Onehunga, reported yesterday that she was anchored off Bushett Shoal, midway between the mouths of the Conway and Waiau rivers.

The Holmwood arrived at Lyttelton yesterday morning after a very rough trip from Wellington.

The overseas vessel, Tremeadow, from Timaru, remained outside the Heads to await a berth.

NORTH ISLAND WEATHER

Wellington Lashed By Gale

(New Zealand. Press Association) WELLINGTON, May 6. The southerly gale, with driving rain, today gave most parts of New Zealand the worst weather of the year. Wellington was lashed by gusts up to 60 miles an hour, and 1.72 in of rain fell in the 24 hours ended 6 o’clock tonight. Flooding was reported in the Wanganui district, where some schools were closed. Several small coasters were forced to shelter, and several larger vessels had difficulty in berthing and departing in Wellington harbour. The WellingtonPicton run to be made by the Tamahine today was cancelled until tomorrow The inter-island steamer Maori took two hours to berth this morning on her arrival from Lyttelton. She was forced to berth at the Taranaki street wharf after being unable to get into her normal berth. A fair fall of snow was reported in the high country, with 2%in reported at the Chateau and lesser falls at Waiouru and in the Wairarapa. The National Airways Corporation reported that all of its flights were in operation today, although there had been some delays of up to half an hour when aircraft met strong head winds on the flights south. Rain Stops Work On Waterfront The congestion of shipping at Lyttelton caused by the long spell of heavy rain continued yesterday. No work was done on the waterfront, and the only departure was the inter-island steamer, Hinemoa. Vessels delayed include the Port Chalmers, which should have sailed on Monday for Dunkirk, and the Tarawera, which should have sailed on Monday for Wellington and Auckland, but has still 11,000 cases of fruit to discharge. The Kaitoke, from Sydney, is at the anchorage, and the overseas vessel Tremeadow is a mile off the Heads.