SOUTHLAND RECOVERING FROM EASTER FLOODS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31656, 17 April 1968, Page 22

SOUTHLAND RECOVERING FROM EASTER FLOODS

(New Zealand Press Association)

INVERCARGILL, April 16.

Wyndham is slowly recovering from the onslaught of its worst flood for 50 years. There was a “high noon” atmosphere about the streets today—people gathered in little knots as if expecting something else to happen—but most of the business people were cleaning out their shops, dumping some of their goods at the front door, hosing mud off the floors and trying to sort a semblance of order out of the chaos caused by the invading water.

An inspection of the damage to the town was made this afternoon by Mr G. G. Grieve, the National member of Parliament for Awarua, who said that something would have to be done to help the town to recover from the blow it had suffered.

’I must see what the Government can do to help, otherwise it would be a terrific burden on the town council;

this damage can’t be repaired out of rate revenue alone,” ne said. Residents are now beginning to return to their homes, but many houses are still empty. In the main street some shops had goods stacked high on the counter. It will be perhaps weeks before life begins to proceed at a normal pace in Wyndham. The floodwaters have left a trail of devastation • everywhere—in broken roads, ■ washouts, ruined gardens, ! damaged furnishings and fit- ; tings. Public services are

thrown completely out of gear. Slower Return The real exodus began shortly after noon on Sunday when Wyndham suddenly became a disaster area, but the return is a much more calculated procedure. Water still surrounds some of the homes in the lower levels of the town but this is slowly trickling away down the water tables. Gardens in these places are a picture of desolation. The bridge over the Mataura River on the WyndhamEdendale Road is closed because of serious damage to the road. Water still covered parts of the road on the Wyndham side of the bridge this afternoon and a stretch of the flank on the south side has been scoured away, with the water still flowing over it The surface of the road has been destroyed in places and the work of reconstruction will be extensive and costly. Mataura Experience The floodwaters have gone from Mataura but homes are still showing the scars, with carpets and underfelt stacked

at the front doors and debris lying about the gardens. But the area affected in Mataura is relatively small, and it is clear that Wyndham was the place that bore the brunt of the disaster.

Wind Upsets Berthing

Turbulent south-westerly conditions on Lyttelton Harbour delayed the berthing of the 12,189-ton tanker Haminella yesterday. The Haminella arrived off the heads on Monday afternoon from Auckland. With considerable skill, yesterday morning a Lyttelton Harbour Board pilot, Captain J. M. Partington, brought the tanker inside the moles and near the Oil berth, assisted by the tug Lyttelton 11, but violent gusts made berthing too hazardous. Captain Partington took the tanker out to sea again, and when the wind eased, berthed her late yesterday afternoon.