’Copter lifts linemen from flooded river

Press, 10 December 1983, Page 1

’Copter lifts linemen from flooded river

Staff reporters

Twenty-two line staff of the Tasman Electric Power Board were lifted by helicopter out of the flooded Wairoa River near Brightwater yesterday.

The men were a gang engaged in shifting the poles carrying the main power line from the Hope substation to Wakefield. Previous floods this year had cut away the bank perilously close to the poles, and when it became apparent yesterday that the rising river could endanger the poles and the supply it was decided to shift them across the road. The men and their trucks were caught by the. rising waters. The poles were relocated but the men were unable to get through the swift-flowing water. A helicopter was called in at 2.45 p.m. and safely airlifted the soaked men to the

Hope depot. The trucks had to be left but efforts were being made early last evening to recover them. The main highway south was cut by floodwaters below the Wairoa bridge at Brightwater, the floodwaters backing up the road to Bourke’s Bank and inundating a newly laid out kiwifruit garden. At the Appleby bridge, the river ran stopbank to stopbank, covering the picnic and children’s play areas. Only the stopbank on the western side prevented floodwaters sweeping into the domain where caravan and camper-van dwellers had set up camp. Takaka, on this occasion, posed few problems for those in civil defence.

Serious flooding in parts of Nelson City was averted by a group of about 120 people who turned out to sandbag the banks of the flooded Maitai River.

It was the fourth time in nine months that the river has been in high flood and endangered properties. Nelson City Council engineering and works staff, plus some council clerical staff and public volunteers, joined forces to defeat the rising waters before the 2 p.m. high tide. The river, swollen by three days of rain, broke its banks in the usual low areas in the Maitai Valley. It

swirled across part of the road a short distance upstream from the Nile Street bridge, inundating grassland and pathways. On the opposite side of the river, near Hanby Park,

the floodwaters crept over the bank, but further downstream the raised stopbanks built after the last flood prevented the river from flooding Mill Street homes, The river began to drop with the ebbing tide and many of the workers were

able to stand down by midafternoon. The rain stopped at 5.15 p.m. but meteorologists forecasted that a further 50mm to 100 mm of rain could be expected overnight. The City Works Engineer, Mr David Faulkner, said that a radio call for volunteers had drawn an enthusiastic response and there would be enough workers on call during the night should the situation deteriorate.

Nelson City’s water supgy, usually drawn from the oding and Maitai rivers, was under a severe strain yesterday afternoon. The public has been warned to boil all drinking water.

The Roding River was in the Rood j n at i eas t , ° SIX years ’ Mr Robin Turton, caretaker at the Roding reservoir, said 241.2 mm of rain fell, from Wednesday to 4 p.m. yesterday. Between 9

a.m. and 4 p.m. yesterday 80.5 mm of rain fell in the Roding area. At midday yesterday 2.5 m of water was pouring over the dam into the Roding River.

The swollen Roding cut the Aniseed Valley road before it joined the Wairoa River.

• Elsewhere in the province flooding was of less significance.

; Heavy rain has again ■brought extensive flooding ■To parts of Marlborough. [ The worst-hit areas are Rai Valley, Opouri Valley, the Lower Pelorus Valley, Kaituna Valley, and the Wairau River north bank. The Wairau River was expected to peak at about 1 6m at Tuamarina between 10 p.m. and midnight last night, well below the peak recorded in the October flood.

Meteteological reports indicate that the worst is

probably over. State highway 6, between Blenheim and Nelson, was closed by surface flooding yesterday at Daltons culvert, about 3km west of Canvastown. The Wakamarina Road was closed by surface flooding. Water from the flooded Wakamarina River had reached the back foundations of the Trout Hotel at Canvastown by late afternoon, but was expected to stop short of floor level. Business continued as usual. The licensee, Mr Graham Taylor, a veteran of three floods already this year, was taking no chances. He was preparing to lift carpets in the bar just in case. A temporary bridge across the Tunapai Stream in the Opouri Valley, giving access to Tennyson Inlet, was washed away and the approaches to other bridges were washed out.

The Ronga Valley road to

French Pass was also closed by floodwater. The Lower Pelorus Valley was flooded from side to side. The house of Mr Bruce Boulton, at Twidles Island, was again surrounded by floodwater. The Kaiuma Bay, Moutapu Bay, and Mahakipawa Bay roads were closed by slips. The Wairau River north bank road was closed at Bartletts Creek.

The Awatere Valley road was closed at Woodmans Bend.

The rain, which began falling steadily on Thursday night, has caused no problem in Blenheim and only minor surface flooding about Spring Creek. Civil defence in Marlborough went on standby earlier yesterday when it appeared the flooding would be serious, but the regional Civil Defence Officer, Mr Frank Stretch, said that no problem was expected later in the day, according to

NZPA. The Westland Catchment Board yesterday advised farmers to move stock in low-lying areas to higher ground. The Meteorological Office said that six to eight hours more of rain was expected, and a board spokesman said that rivers in the area would continue to rise until a late hour, after which an improvement was expected.

More than 100 mm of rain fell at Haast, while it was reported that 170 mm had fallen at Harihari. The Hokitika and Taramakau rivers were reported to be in flood, and heavy rain was recorded at Otira.

A new pipeline being laid in Marsden Road, Greymouth, to carry water from Chesterman Creek was pushed out of alignment when heavy overnight rain flooded the new channel.

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