Floods Force Evacuation Of Southland Towns

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31654, 15 April 1968, Page 1

Floods Force Evacuation Of Southland Towns

(New Zealand Press Association)

GORE, April 14. After continuous rain in the last three days, the Mataura River today went on its greatest rampage in 30 years.

A huge flow of water down the Mataura Valley caused the total evacuation of the township of Wyndham (population 800) and partial evacuation in Mataura (population 2500).

Flood-prone areas in Gore were also affected but the situation there was not serious. From Cattle Flat, near Balfour, over a 70-mile course to the sea, the Mataura was running terrace to terrace, covering thousands of acres of farmland.

A team of civil defence rescue unit workers used five jet boats supplied by members of the Southland Power Boat Club, to sail into Wyndham to help evacuation work. Patients in the Wyndham Maternity Home were taken by vehicle to the Tokanui home. A Southland Hospital Board ambulance, which was to help evacuate the patients, was unable to get to the town because of a wash-out on the south side of the flooded road, about a quarter of a mile from the town. The first Wyndham residents to realise that their town was likely to be engulfed prepared to evacuate on Saturday night Some shifted to neighbours’ homes on higher ground. By late that night, Burns Motor Garage, in the centre of the town, had about four inches of water in it. Early this afternoon the Civil Defence Organisation asked in broadcast announcements for residents to evacuate. They were advised to take enough food for two i meals. Offers of help poured in. An ! Invercargill bakery firm pro-i

vided a fleet of seven trucks to help with the evacuation at Wyndham but the wash-out on the road prevented them from being used. Meanwhile, on the north side of the town, fleets of tractors and trucks took residents to the Mokoreta Hall, 15 miles from Wyndham, which was being used as an emergency headquarters. Reports from people who assisted in the evacuation said that most residents took only necessities with them. Two light aircraft were constantly flying over the area this afternoon and hund reds of sightseers travelled from Invercargill to see the flooding. Farmers had ample warning of the approach of the crisis and stock losses were expected to be light. Mataura was the first to feel the brunt of the flooding this morning when the river broke its banks in the north-east quarter of the town. Damage To Mil! The Civil Defence Organisation took control and about 100 houses were evacuated. Emergency centres were ret up to accommodate evacuated householders. This break on the east side of the river had its most seri-

ous effect in the Mataura works of the New Zealand Paper Mills, Ltd. This afternoon, water was flowing through several departments of the works, causing serious damage to machinery and stock. Stocks of wood pulp at the southern end of the mill were being carried away by the floodwaters. Minor flooding took place this afternoon in Mataura.

Water from the river was backing out through culverts under the main railway line and volunteers were busy blocking these with sandbags to protect the north end of the town. Late this afternoon it was apparent that this area had been effectively protected. The photograph on the right shows people and vehicles stranded by floodwaters on the main highway 16 miles south of Gore, near Wyndham.