LOSS IN 60-HOUR STORM MAY BE MILLIONS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31653, 13 April 1968, Page 1

LOSS IN 60-HOUR STORM MAY BE MILLIONS

Five and a half inches of rain and winds up to 84 miles an hour during the 60 hours to 6 a.m. yesterday left destruction and a repair bill which may be millions of dollars in Christchurch and surrounding districts

The storm was probably the worst known in Christchurch. It caused one death—a man struck by a falling tree on Wednesday night—but no serious injury.

For hundreds of residents of the city the storm was disastrous and heartbreaking. To many market gardeners it meant the loss of whole crops of vegetables and to farmers the loss of stock.

The major effects of the storm are:

Hundreds of houses on the Port Hills and suburbs on the fiat ravaged by violent wind and rain squalls. New homes on the Cannon Hill estate have been damaged almost beyond repair. Roofs have disappeared and plate glass windows have been blown in. Homes under construction have been smashed to matchwood. Severe flooding of hundreds of homes from Halswell to South Brighton and from Little River to Purau. Many of the occupants have moved and are staying with relatives or friends. Big stock losses In the Little River and Ellesmere areas. At least 3000 sheep have perished in floods and several hundred newly shorn sheep in North Canterbury have died from exposure. About 10,000 fowls in the Leeston area are believed to have died. At least 30 huge glasshouses in the Horotane Valley, and most of the tomatoes in them, have been destroyed. Vast sections of the market gardening land north of Christchurch are under water and the crops are almost certain to be ruined. Thousands of fruit trees ' have been stripped of

their crops, mainly apples and pears. Telecommunications in parts of the city and country have been cut for up to four days and some will not be restored until Sunday. Power supplies have been cut in some places for up to four days and remote country areas may have to wait until tomorrow for them to be restored. Thousands of fences in the city have been flattened. Gardens have been wrecked and hundreds of trees uprooted. , A massive clean-up opera-

tion, involving vast restoration to public and private property, will turn Easter into a working holiday for thousands of people in the city and district.

Only a trickle of holidaymakers has left the city. Good Friday church services were well attended, except those for children. The staffs of some local authorities in the city were up all night on Thursday. Some had not been home from the time they left for work on Thursday morning until late last night. Members of the police, Army and Air Force had also been on the alert without a break since midday on Thursday. More than 100 airmen and 200 soldiers were ordered to stay on duty. Senior police officers have praised the public for their co-operation, and the armed services for their assistance. The storm was at its worst

at 3.10 a.m. on Thursday when the wind rose to 84 m.p.h. Nearly three inches of rain fell during Thursday and it was in the early hours of the day that the first residents were moved—from houses in Cannon Hill Crescent extension. While hundreds of people who had been driven from their homes on Thursday were trying to get them habitable again, yesterday engineers, linemen, drainage controllers and labourers were out in force restoring emergency services. Installations of the Electricity Department were not affected, but local authority outlets were damaged in many places. The wind on Wednesday and Thursday prevented repair work but teams of linemen worked from dawn till dark yesterday in the city. Central Canterbury, Heathcote and Riccarton supply areas.

In the city ail major breakdowns had been repaired by noon and at least temporary service to individual consumers had been restored by nightfall. The chief engineer of the M.E.D. (Mr W. G. Johnstone) said his staff would keep going until all supplies had been restored. The Central Canterbury Electric Power Board’s staff hope to restore all services by tonight, but

will work on if necessary. The Electricity Department, private contractors and staff from areas not affected are helping. In the Heathcote County there have been widespread power failures but by last night there were only Isolated disruptions, which were being repaired. In Riccarton about 85 consumers lost full service and about 70 had hotwater power disrupted.