Woman And Child Die In Tragic Opotiki Floods

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30389, 13 March 1964, Page 12

Woman And Child Die In Tragic Opotiki Floods

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, March 12. Stunned and dejected, the 2700 inhabitants of Opotiki took rueful stock today after a night of terror in which the torrent from two rivers swept through the streets, smashing shop windows and causing thousands of pounds of damage.

An 11-month-old boy and a woman died in the flood. The baby, Timothy Dain, son of Mr and Mrs J. F. Dain, had been evacuated to a house in Ford street and was drowned when he fell from his bed into water which swept into the room. Miss Alva Isobel Gorney, aged 54, of Bridge street, is believed to have died from electric shock at the height of the flood.

Senior residents described the flood as the worst in the town’s long history of floods.

One elderly man who witnessed the 1918 flood said the water then was 18 inches deep in his home. On Wednesday night it flowed through the windows.

The Opotiki Town Clerk (Mr P. A. Tourell) estimated that every business house in the town had suffered damage amounting to at least £2OOO. He said the peak of the flooding seemed to be between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Since then the water had gradually receded, but there were still muddy lakes in the hollows tonight. Shopkeepers and householders today began the gigantic task of mopping up as borough council workmen cleared the debris from the main street with graders and front-end loaders. Goods from shelves and shop display stands were swept away by water which at times ran five feet deep through the town. Shops Looted The police mounted guards on flood-wrecked shops when looting broke out today. Suits and other clothing, trinkets and anything that floated was stolen. Bicycles and other heavier items were taken from inside or near shops. Sergeant C. E. W. Carter said the pilfering began with children and spread to adults. Some shops were secured with boards and wire netting. A modern ark saved 60 Opotiki townspeople from the floods. The Ark Haven old folks’' guest house in Ford street was built five feet off the ground in case of flood, and Mrs M. Poninghouse, the proprietress, was conscious of the reasons she had named it so.

“You should have seen the boat loads coming in the front gate,” she said. “We had nine people in one small room, but everyone was well fed.”

Mrs Poninghouse and her husband cared for their 12 patients as well as the 60 refugees, who included 20 children.

Mr C. Elliott, owner of a second-hand shop, tried to fight up the current in an outboard boat in answer to a call for help on Wednesday, but sheared a blade on his propeller. He turned back, rescued

.three other people, including a woman and a baby, then reached two people up to their necks in water. Another blade was broken from the propeller by debris and he could not hold the boat in the current. They were swept down an alley, but managed to fasten a rope to a tree. “We spent the rest of the afternoon—four or five hours —in the boat,” said Mr Elliott. “Just before dark we managed to rope ourselves across to the two-storey Kiwi Service Station and 13 people spent the hours there until 3 o’clock this morning.” They were rescued by a grader. “Break Up” Of Offices

Mr L. Dennett, a baker, said that with about 13 other men and two women he was sheltering in the borough council offices about 5 p.m. on Wednesday when the offices began to “break up.” The people waded out up to their waists in water to seek refuge in another building. Mr Dennett said he had just lifted his house four feet three inches to clear the “usual floods.” On Wednesday night water lay two feet six inches deep on his floor. Mr D. Tyrie, in his 18-foot cabin cruiser, rescuing people in the main part of the town at the peak of the flood, picked up a woman, a baby and four young children. The boat struck a concrete power pole, was holed and began to sink. The last child was hauled out of the boat when the water was over his head. The group from the boat climbed on to a nearby building and a grader driven by Mr O. Whitewood, a Ministry of Works employee, drove up and took them off. Constable R. Thomson said: “Mr Whitewood did a great job. He drove his grader through water over the wheels, rescuing invalids and people trapped in houses. “He worked until four this morning, when he was given two blankets and he curled up to sleep in the cab of his grader.” One of the invalids Mr Whitewood rescued was bedridden. The water was within inches of him when the grader arrived. The man had to be lifted to shoulder height through chestdeep water. Atop Wardrobe A man and his wife in Church street spent most of Wednesday night on top of their wardrobe and an elderly couple, Mr and Mrs F. C. Perry, too frail to escape through the current

from their Church street home, were rescued by grader with water flowing through their windows. They had taken refuge on top of their kitchen table.

A number of people sought safety in the biggest hall in town, the Pakowai Hall, but the water rose to stage level. A boat sailed through the front door to take them to a more secure refuge. A boat carrying Mr T. Edhouse and the Opotiki police sergeant, Sergeant C. E. W. Carter, who were rescuing two school teadhers, capsized after striking a tree. One of the women in the boat clung to a tree with one arm and her baby with the other until she could be rescued. The Borough Council set up an emergency meals station in the St. Mary’s Hall this morning and issued an appeal for billets for people flooded out of their homes. There was a “marvellous response” from the farming community, said Mr Tourell. But most people were making their own arrangements.

The' flood cut the water supply from the borough reservoir and the council switched to its auxiliary artesian bore. But the pump motor failed and the town has since been without water. The borough foreman, Mr S. Hornsey, said he . hoped to have the supply restored tomorrow morning. Water Ferried

Opotiki Dairy Association factory tankers ferried water to the town and in many cases half gallon flagons.

The lack of water has been the biggest problem for the townspeople faced with cleaning out inches of fine silt which has permeated homes. A front end loader shovelled a heap of sodden books and newspapers from the district library on to a truck, and in a foodmarket three men shovelled silt and ruined stock off the floor. The manager (Mr M. Heginlbotham) said the flood did at least £3500 damage. Mr Dennett’s bakery has suffered at least £lOOO dam-

age, and an engineering shop has had £9OOO worth of equipment including a new lathe damaged. Their experiences are common in the business area of the town. A rescuer today was critical of the attitude of some people in refusing to leave their homes in spite of the danger. Some of them had almost forcibly to be carried to safety, he said. Several of the rescuers themselves were nearly drowned as they waded to homes. Waving Glasses One of the hotels in the town continued trading. Patrons hung over a balcony waving glasses as rescuers went by. It is believed stock damage will be considerable. One farmer, who was known to have 127 cows yesterday, could only account for 27 this morning. Many sheep have also been lost. Light traffic only can now enter the town, which was completely isolated last night.