Flooding At New Brighton

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31653, 13 April 1968, Page 14

Flooding At New Brighton

Soldiers evacuated five families from South Brighton on Thursday afternoon because of extensive flooding. Many other families left their homes as the waters rose.

All found accommodation with friends or relatives in Christchurch.

The police set up an emergency control centre in a private home on the corner of Rockinghorse Road and Caspian Street South of that point all of Rockinghorse Road and the

streets which intersect it were i under water. Water covered much of the surrounding land and was inches deep in several houses Many whose homes were on higher ground decided to stay, although they were cut off. Large Army trucks patrolled the length of Rockinghorse Road, watching for signals from persons requiring assistance, and the police called on householders in the ; area. Food was brought in I for people who were stranded

When the tide reached its peak, in mid-afternoon, waves from the Estuary were breaking over the end of Plover Street and flowing around houses. Driving rain fell all , afternoon.

The crisis had passed at 5 p.m., when the police dismantled their emergency station and the soldiers, with their equipment and vehicles, returned to the Central Police Station.