HOME EVACUATED FOR SECOND TIME

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31656, 17 April 1968, Page 1

HOME EVACUATED FOR SECOND TIME

Another deluge yesterday caused Mr C. E. Jenkins, of Port Levy, to evacuate his house for the second time in five days.

Mr Jenkins said a downpour accompanied by high winds in the morning caused a small mountain stream which runs down the eastern valley in Port Levy to break its banks and flood his home.

He had to evacuate his home on Friday when the stream first broke its banks. "There was about 2ft 6in of water in the downstairs portion of our two-storey house last Friday and we had to get out of it,” he said. “I also had to turn loose 39 of my 47 milking cows last week as the milking shed could not be used. I milked the other eight cows by hand until today when I had to

turn them loose too,” said Mr Jenkins, who is chairman of the Mount Herbert County Council works committee. When the stream broke its banks again yesterday morning, Mr Jenkins, his wife and two daughters were taken from the property on a bulldozer. “We had been living in another cottage in Port Levy and going back to the house every day to clean up. I left my car and utility vehicle on high ground this morning. “The doors of the house have been nailed up, but water is lapping outside them.” Nine of the 12 bridges in Port Levy were either washed away or had their approaches washed away, Mr Jenkins said. ANOTHER STORM Restoration of transport and communications upset by last week’s storm were hampered by another storm on Banks Peninsul i yesterday morning. Not as heavy as that of last week, the storm began about 8 a.m. and had died at 1.30 p.m. Road work being done by the Mount Herbert, Akaroa and Waiwera County Councils was hampered by wind and rain. The estimated 2in of rain that fell in five hours caused more minor flooding in many areas which were stricken last week. A Post Office gang working to restore telephone communication to the radio transmitting station at Gebbie’s Pass had to stop in the morning because of high winds and heavy rain, said the divisional engineer for the Post Office in Christchurch (Mr D. M. McFarlane). “In some cases the work

already done has been ruined today,” said a county council employee. Almost the entire staff of the Central Canterbury Electric Power Board had been working from last Wednesday until Sunday and were all back on the job yesterday, according to Mr P. D. Rutledge, assistant engineer to the board. “Most of the staff have only had a few hours sleep and some have not had a decent meal since Wednesday,” Mr Rutledge said. He paid a tribute to the work of Mr K. C. Lewis, distribution engineer to the board, who directed the restoration work. Mr Rutledge said that m the board’s area only one or two baches where there was nobody in residence had not been connected to the power supply. Many consumers were connected by temporary means and it would be at least two weeks before the supply was properly restored to all consumers, said Mr Rutledge. About 300 telephones were still faulty in Christchurch, said Mr McFarlane, and betwen 20 and 50 lines were out of order outside Christchurch but within the Christchurch district. "Our main task now is to survey the area to investigate the cost of permanent restoration to subscribers. Many are on temporary connections,” he said. Opening Of Lake Work began on Monday afternoon to open Lake Ellesmere to the sea at Taumutu and let out floodwaters from the storm, the chief engineer of the North Canterbury Catchment Board (Mr E. B. Dalmer) said last evening. A high wind and rain made work difficult yesterday morning, Mr Dalmer said, but three bulldozers and a dragline were able to begin work at 10 a.m. The dragline would continue working until midnight The wind was so strong at Taumutu that the level of the lake fell from 3.4 ft above mean sea level to Ift above mean sea level as the wind blew the water up the lake.