Floods Follow Thaw

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30051, 8 February 1963, Page 12

Floods Follow Thaw

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) LONDON, Feb. 7. Army and Air Force officers last night planned an emergency rescue service as a sudden thaw brought floods to south-west England. The thaw began after some parts of Britain had had their worst day of blizzards since the 42-day Arctic freeze began. Last night the river Jordan overflowed and flooded houses at Boscastle, Cornwall, to a depth of almost 3ft, the “Daily Telegraph” reported. Men worked by floodlights to divert the water as people took refuge in upstairs rooms. Melting snow from the moors brought down hundreds of tons of boulders which blocked a culvert and sent a cascade of water into the town. Water swept through a hotel, tearing double doors from their hinges in the cellar. Barrels and crates of beer floated down the village street and out to sea. At Princeton, on Dartmoor, water poured into cottages and many roads in Devon had Sin of water swirling

down them, the “Daily Telegraph’’ said. The Automobile Association reported last night that 130,000 miles of Britain’s 200,000-mile road network were affected by snow or floods. Earlier yesterday, England was cut off from Scotland, with all main roads blocked following severe snow storms. The thaw swept across the country overnight, the “Daily Mail” reported. In London, temperatures were above freezing-point by midnight. Heavy rain is expected to move across southern England and most of Wales today, increasing the flood threat However, to Devon, police said this morning, there had not yet been any serious flooding. At Whipsnade Zoo, near Luton. Bedfordshire, firemen were called out on an emergency—to wash away snowdrifts in the bear pits, the “Daily Telegraph” reported. A zoo spokesman said: “Dangerous Polar bears could have climbed up the snow drifts out of their The thaw also started spreading across Europe today, bringing a threat of floods, the Associated Press reported. France had the first signs of a thaw in Brittany and the south-west Else-

where, however, rivers were still frozen solid and coal barges were immobilised. Along the Atlantic coast, Frenchmen collected frozen fish thrown up by the wwves. Some people gathered up to B(Mb of them. Walked Over Lake

Lake Constance, on the German - Swiss - Austrian border, was still frozen solid. Six men from the village of Hagnau walked across it—the first such crossing for 133 years. Temperatures remained below freezing-point in West Germany and Belgium. The thaw spread through central and southern Italy but northern Italy was still bitterly cold. An old man died from the add and two women were killed when a building collapsed under the weight of snow. Floods and avalanches brought peril to Jugoslavia In Strega and Ohrid, two towns near the Albanian border, more than 1700 houses were under water and 200 families were evacuated .Another 500 houses were flooded in the industrial town of Leskovac.

Hungary stiH lav under a blanket of snow. So far, 575 people are reported dead throughout" Europe as a result of the cold wave, the Associated Dress said.