Roads cut in Northland

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32677, 5 August 1971, Page 2

Roads cut in Northland

(New Zealand Press Association) ”1 AUCKLAND, August 4. Storms lashed the Auckland province today, bringing floods and cutting roads, including all roads into Whitianga.

Constable A. D. Wall,! officer in charge of Whitianga, said the area had just recovered from its last major storm on July 3.

“Our main concern at the moment is getting possible emergency cases through to the Thames Hospital,” he said.

High seas pounded Auckland’s waterfront drive this evening) badly damaging a large section of the sea wall at Mission Bay. About 90ft of the concrete walkway alongside the wall is buckled and broken.

In many parts of Northland .roads were blocked

early in the day by floodwaters and slips, but most had been cleared by early afternoon.

Large areas of the Hikurangi swamp are under water, and are likely to remain so for the next few days as headwaters drain into it.

If rain persists, Kawakawa can expect its worst floods for many years, according to residents.

Extensive flooding surrounded the town today, hundreds of acres of farmland between Kawakawa and Moerewa were waterlogged, and water was encroaching on the main highway north and south of the town. The Auckland Automobile Association reported this evening that several Coromandel and Northland roads were closed.

A National Airways Corporation flight from Auckland to Whangarei was cancelled because of the weather, and the passengers were taken by road. All rail services north of Otiria, in Northland, were cancelled after floods blocked the line.