Thousands Of Pounds Of Flood Damage

Press, Volume C, Issue 29657, 30 October 1961, Page 12

Thousands Of Pounds Of Flood Damage

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, October 29. Thousands of pounds of damage was caused to Pukekohe market gardens by Saturday’s torrential rains. Floodwaters destroyed tomato, potato and onion plantings, but more serious than this was the loss of valuable topsoil which was washed away. “I’ve never seen anything like it in 30 years,” said Mr K, Parsot, a Pukekohe grower. Acres of crops had been under water and the roads outside the gardens were thick with topsoil.

In many, paddocks swept bare of crops and cropping ground only clay was visible. There was more than 7in of rain in Pukekohe in nine hours from 7 a.m. Saturday. On some roads graders had to be brought in to sweep a path through the foot-deep silt for traffic. . The racecourse, show grounds, Bledisloe Park and the primary school playgrounds were all flooded with water inches deep and so were many residential areas. In Auckland, shops and houses were flooded and damage was done to stock and furnishings. A basement stock room in a dress shop opposite the Civic Theatre was flooded with 6in of water and some stock was damaged. Several premises in this block were flooded by storm water that lifted a heavy manhole cover.

A 13 stone caretaker tried to stem the flow by standing on the manhole, but the pressure of water was too great and lifted both the cover and the caretaker.

The Odeon Theatre lounge, which is below street level, was seriously flooded and a fire brigade pump was used to clear the water. The morning session at the theatre was cancelled. Houses in Margate street. Blockhouse Bay, were among the worst hit, when a small stream rose rapidly, spilled its banks and flooded Margate street and part of Blockhouse Bay road. Water Ift deep poured into three houses and within minutes backyards and front lawns were inundated down the length of the street. Cleaning Up Neighbours rallied yesterday to clean up the mess in the flooded houses and wash and dry clothing and linen, but the interiors were still too wet for the houses to be slept in.

Business premises in Anzac avenue, Albert street, and Broadway, Newmarket, were also pumped out by firemen.

The Central Fire Brigade had 40 requests for flood help over the week-end and worked all day Saturday and again today. The North Shore Fire Brigade was called to the Northcote shopping centre on Saturday morning at the height of the storm to pump out water which was spreading into shops. There were two other calls for their services, one from a householder at Milford. About 800 bales of wool will be carted away from Wright, Stephenson and Company, Ltd.’s wool store in the Strand tomorrow to be reconditioned. The bales, some of about 20,000 in the store, were soaked to a depth of 18in by the rain which flooded the store on Saturday morning. The wool will have to be dried out and repacked. At one stage the water in the Strand was lapping the floorboards of parked cars. Streets as Lakes In the city and suburbs, whole streets were turned into lakes, hundreds of yards long and deep enough for children to float canoes and rafts. Slips fell from Mount Hobson and covered the footpath and part of Remuera road. Soil and silt from the mountain covered the backyards of adjoining houses. Hundreds of cars were stalled at the height of the mid-morning downpour and some traffic lights fused. High winds accompanied the downpour. A 27-foot keeler was blown on to Kohimarama beach and damaged. The Mechanic’s Bay weather office recorded 4.54 in in 12 hours from 9 p.m, on Friday. The peak faU was between 9 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. on Saturday when about 2in of rain fell. The rain was widespread throughout the Auckland province, but varied in strength Once the rain eased and the stormwater receded with the outgoing tide, the level of the flooding quickly fell.