Greymouth flood damage assessments exceed $2M

Press, 24 May 1988, Page 4

Greymouth flood damage assessments exceed $2M

By

PAT TAYLOR

in Greymouth

Assessments of damage in Greymouth’s flooding have so far been said to be in excess of $2 million, but the cost will be higher with preliminary costing of repairs to underground services and to roading ranging from $250,000 to $500,000.

The floodwaters gouged out sections of sealing in several downtown streets, but resealing has been completed on the Greymouth aerodrome runway. Sections of it had been lifted in flooding last Friday. Coast Air ran an additional service to Christchurch yesterday to catch up with the backlog of passengers. Figures released yesterday by the Civil Defence headquarters in the Greymouth Borough Council building showed that 102 residential properties were emptied because of the flooding, and 23 houses were still unoccupied, with 45 still awaiting checks on building and electrical fittings. Two houses have been condemned, one in Herbert Street and one in Preston Road.

Miss Vera Deere, in Herbert Street, plans to purchase another property in High Street, according to the Mayor of Greymouth, Dr Barry Dallas. Mrs Irene Jamieson, aged 93, who has been washed out of her home in Preston Road many times, has not yet made new plans. Dr Dallas yesterday launched a national mayoral relief fund on the advice of the member of Parliament for Gisborne, Mr Allan Wallbank, who visited the town on Sunday afternoon.

Mr Wallbank, who was involved in restoration work after the flooding in his own electorate caused by Cyclone Bola, had been of “great value,” said Dr Dcillcis Mr Wallbank had said that he would advise the Government of possible avenues of relief. He was concerned that persons, who had been flooded out previously, had no insurance.

In addition to the mayoral fund, the Grand Lodge of New Zealand Freemasons has established a disaster committee in Grevmouth to assist those suffering financial hardship after the flooding, and is seeking applications.

No mail deliveries were made to shops in the cordoned area of the commercial sector yesterday morning, but private boxes were serviced and residential areas received their mail. However, those who were living elsewhere were advised to check their home letter boxes, and to arrange for their mail to be held by the Post Office, or have it redirected.

Telephone links with Otira were restored yesterday afternoon, but Telecom staff were still restoring service to about 100 subscribers in the Greymouth area. Further showers of rain fell in Greymouth yesterday making restoration work difficult. Some toilet bowls in the commercial area were reported to have overflowed when flushed because of the large amount of gravel and silt in the drainage system. In Greymouth yesterday residents of the lowlying areas in William Street, Leonard Street, Boundary Street and Lower Guinness Street were trying to dry carpets and mats over veranda railings. The adjacent footpaths, several centimetres deep in mud were evidence of the water which, in some places a metre and a half deep, swept through properties. The flooring in a house owned by Mr John Norris at the corner of Boundary and Leonard Streets was severely buckled, and it is thought it may be uninhabitable. Mr Norris, who lives alone, was moved to a boardinghouse in Greymouth at the height of the flood.

A friend was there yesterday cleaning the house, and had managed to save some of Mr Norris’s possessions, although a quantity of furniture had been dumped. Further along Boundary Street, footpaths were strewn with mud and broken sealing. Borough council workers, and others from Timberlands and the Grey County,

hosed and swept the debris away. On the waterfront embankment, railways workers, with front-end loaders, were endeavouring to restore the ballast under railway lines which was swept away in the flooding.

Much of the ballast was washed into the drains which added to the blockages of the town’s drainage system. Two more suction units arrived at 7 a.m. yesterday morning from Timaru to help clear the drains and sumps.

Some shopkeepers were comparing watermarks on their buildings. Mr Bob Mitchell, who runs “Knick Knacks” in Waitaki House, said that he had had two and a half inches of water inside his shop. The building, built in 1873 and reached by steps, had never been known to have been flooded.

Other shops had tide marks along their windows indicating that more than a metre of water had entered. Many of these had been flooded for the first time.

Investigations by the Greymouth Harbour Board yesterday showed shoaling in the Grey River near the entrance to the fishermen’s wharf area, with depths dropping by six to seven feet to about 15 feet, at the berths.

The board overseer, Mr Dudley Palmer, said that there had been some subsidence of the north tiphead at the harbour entrance, minimal damage had been caused to piers but there had been more serious damage to wharf decking.

The Greymouth police warned scavengers away from the town refuse dump in Cobden. Senior Sergeant Neil Smith said, that dumped goods were the property of the Borough Council. Weekend reports said that scavengers were sorting through boxes of dumped goods, and people were seen walking away with sodden cartons of cigarettes.