No Water In Hawera Yet; Pipeline Bursts Again

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31448, 15 August 1967, Page 1

No Water In Hawera Yet; Pipeline Bursts Again

(New Zealand Press Association) HAWERA, August 14. The supply of water to Hawera was resumed this evening but the pressure in the pipeline burst the mains. The state of emergency still exists.

For the third day, Hawera was without water today and all schools, shops, offices and businesses other than essential services were closed. Work gangs were still struggling late last night to bring water to the town. With water on its way and success in sight at the Waingongoro river, the pressure in the supply line burst the mains. New Plymouth was contacted to supply two couplings to repair the break and the parts were expected at Hawera early in the morning. The Civil Defence Controller (Mr W. A. Caddick) said it was expected the burst main

would take about an hour to repair. The pipes would then be refilled and tested before the supply entered the borough. The floods which swept the area on Friday night claimed two lives. Searchers this afternoon recovered the body of a 35-year-old Makaka farmer, Wilfred James Smith, whose car plunged into the Kapuni river late on Friday night. The other victim of the floods, Thomas Douglas Kirk, met his death in the same fashion as Mr Smith when he drove over a bridge crossing the Waingongoro river and plunged into a 20ft wash-out. A two-car collision sent six people to hospital about 8.30 tonight. All six went to Stratford

Hospital because Hawera's establishment, with only emergency supplies of water available, was not admitting any further patients. One of the six died about two hours after the accident. He was Robert Bryce Fulton, aged 18, of Hawera. His father, Mr Derek Fulton, is seriously ill. Four others in the second car involved were treated and discharged, but their names have not yet been released. Water tankers supplied Hawera residents with almost 60,000 gallons of water during the first two days of the emergency, and a heavy demand still existed this morning.

Water was distributed to the public at supply points

throughout the town and special house deliveries were made to the aged, infirm, hospitals, hotels, industrial establishments, poultry farms and doctors’ surgeries. A Bailey bridge was erected to carry an emergency link across the river and will remain in use for about three months. Workmen erecting the bridge across the swollen Waingongoro river were forced to stop work last night. Although the river had receded, it was still flowing rapidly and constituted too big a risk, the Borough Engineer (Mr B. J. Drake) said today. Workmen were on the site nine miles west of Hawera at daybreak today. The bridge was completed early this morning and the task of swinging it 10ft to place it in line with the water main began at 10.20 a.m. The first attempt at this almost ended in disaster when the bridge began sliding. It was feared it would plunge down the bank into the river 18ft below. Streams High The worst affected area next to Hawera was Eltham County, where streams rose higher than many farmers can remember. Flood damage, especially In the hilly backcountry, was described as “very heavy.” A full assessment could not be made this morning. Several bridges have been badly damaged and rendered unusable in the province.