FLOOD TRAGEDY

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 162, 5 April 1938, Page 13

FLOOD TRAGEDY

Evidence At Inquest On Victims

SURVIVORS’ ACCOUNTS

Questions Regarding Spoil In River-bed By Telegraph—Press Association. Wairoa, April 4. The inquests on those victims of the Kopuawhara tragedy whose bodies have been recovered was resumed today by the coroner, Mr. V. E. Winter. The tragedy occurred in the early morning of Saturday, February 19, when the single men’s section of the •Jo. 4 camp was overwhelmed by floodwaters and 20 men and a young woman lost their lives. Nineteen of the bodies yere recovered and evidence of identification in respect of these has already been taken. Sergeant John Mclntosh, of Hastings, conducted the inquests for the police Uid Mr. L. W. Willis, of Napier, represented the Public Works Department. The inquest will be resumed to-morrow. The first witness called was Rupe William Rang!, bridge-builder, employed by the Public Works Department, who said that on February 18 he was working at No. 6 camp. It was drizzling in the morning but came on io rain heavily in’ the afternoon, continuing on until the evening. In the evening he visited the Y.M.C.A., going home about 11.15. He crossed a bridge on the way home and noticed that the water of the stream was fairly high, being halfway up to the decking. _ It was raining fairly heavily at the time, but he did nbt-think there was any danger of a flood. He had seen rain falling as heavily on previous occasions jvithout any flood resulting. He was pulled out of bed abodt 3.30 a.m. by a man named Doyle, who said the camp was under water and the electric light had failed. Witness dressed and went toward the single men’s quarters. He found it was hopeless, however, aud turned back. At chat time the water was coming over Che single men’s quarters. He could see the cookhouse and some men’ crouched on the roof. As the cookhouse collapsed they gradually worked their way on to an annexe. Witness found ropes and secured a motor-car. Focusing its headlights on to the cookhouse robf, he saw a man drifting down in the current and then saw him pulled oil to the cookhouse. With'the aid of ropes about 20 people were’ brought ashore from the cookhouse. Opinion on Dumping of Spoil. Witness stated that he had been living at the camp since June, 1936. He had never seen the stream come over its banks ■ and had always considered the camp to be safe.* He knew the No. 6 tunnel, and for some time the Public Works Department had been dumping spoil I taken from the tunnel into the stream. He did not think this dumping would hate any bearing on the disaster. The single men’s quarters were about eleven or twelve feet above the level of the stream, which was about 80 feet wide at this point. To Mr. Willis witness said that the spoil from the tunnel was clumped on the side of- the old bed but not into the water. The spoil would be about -nine feet deep over the old bed, or perhaps a little more. About three chains below the corner where the spoil was dumped the stream formed a bottleneck, the istream at this point being much narrower. ’There were trees growing on the site of the camp. They comprised totaras and willows. The totara was a very slow-growing tree, but it would be hard for him to say if the totaras on the camp site were 80 years old. They were, however, very old. The ground where the camp was situated was. rocky and silty. He had considered that the site was.-free from the possibility of flooding. The flood on February -19 washed out the totaras and willows, and on the upper end it washed 10 or 12 feet of soilflown to the level of the. stream bed.’ it also washed away all soil on the camp site and a large part of the metalled road. Alarm Given. James Thomas Dorreen, one of the survivors, was the next witness. He said he had lived hi,a tent at the camp’ for eighteen mouths and considered it was quite safe so far as floods were concerned. He went to bed. about 9 p.m. on February 18. The. stream was then discoloured but it did not appear to be very high. - He woke up about 1 a.m., but could not say if it was raining then or not. He ' wakened again about 3 a.m. It was raining hard aud he could hear the roar of boulders. He got out Of bed and when he looked out the water was not over the Camp. He then dressed and went down the lines of tents, calling out to the others to get out. He saw men named Dunlea and Cronin. They made toward the cookhouse and witness managed to get into it. The water was then up to his Waist. He then missed his two companions. Witness said -he climbed on to the roof of the cookhouse, where there were about five others. Later the cookhouse gradually collapsed and they climbed on to the roof of an annexe. His reason for saying the camp was safe was that large totara trees were growing on it. During the time he had been at the camp he had never experienced such a heavy rainfall. Water’s Rapid Rise. To the coroner the witness ’ said that he saw a motor-lorry before he reached the cookhouse, but by the time he reached the roof the lorry had disappeared. Questioned by Mr. Willis, witness said he was in a row of tents at the upper end of the camp. The water was still in the proper channel when he got up at about 3 a.m., but by the time he had dressed the water was coming into his tent. The water did not come in one wall, but gradually and quickly. From the time when he got up to the time the water appeared to meet its maximum height would be about 10 or 15 minutes. He saw something that gave him the idea that the water was dammed up. When he saw logs, it struck him that there had been a timber jam farther up stream. The flood was at its peak for only a very short time. In his opinion, if a flood of the same dimensions had occurred before the camp would not have been where it was.

Thomas Dunlea, another survivor, said he had been living at No. 4 camp for about 15 months and occupied a tent. On February 18 last it rained nearly all day. He spent the Evening in the Y.M.O.A. hut and crossed the bridge leading from there to the camp about 8.30 o’clock. Tt was then raining heavily. He crossed the stream with a man named Bill Auld, but they never gave any thought to the

possibility of a flood Recurring that night. Witness had seen rain as heavy as it was at this time. There was no flood on that occasion, although it had rained all night. He went to bed about 8.35 o’clock and went to sleep almost immediately. Cookhouse Gong Rung.

He wakened about 2 a.m. and lit a cigarette. It was then raining heavily. He could hear the stream roaring and making a great noise but he did not take any notice of it. He did not go to sleep again but about 2.50 a.m. he got out of bed. A few minutes later the light went out. He -went outside and looked at the stream and could see that it was not far jiff coming over the bank. He went to the cookhouse and rang the gong, but did not see any movement. He then went toward the other end of the camp with the. intention of waking his mate but met him before he got so far.\ By this time the water was up to his knees. He then noticed several men moving about but he could not say who they were. ■Witness stated that he and his mate decided to go ■to the cookhouse and while they were making toward it they met a man named Cronin. Witness then deft these two men and eventually succeeded in getting into the Cameron’s living quarters, where he found both Mr. and Mrs. Cameron. They stayed there for some time and then climbed on to the roof, where there were about five others. They all remained there until rescued.

Witness stated that during the time he was in the camp he had always regarded it as being quite safe and that there was no danger from the stream. He did not notice any logs coming down the stream before he went to bed and did not consider that the rain would bring any logs down or do any damage. He did think, however, that the rain when he woke up in the morning would be heavy enough to bring logs down. During the time he had been at the camp he had never experienced rain to approach it for intensity. To the coroner witness said that the water rose very rapidly. In reply to questions by Mr. Willis, witness said the bridge was still standing when he went to sound the gong but he did not see any blockage. His purpose in ringing the gong was to warn others, so that they 'could get out if anything, happened. The water then was not very high but it rose very swiftly. The flood washed away the whole of file soil on the site at the upstream end.

The inquest took.a sensational turn this afternoon when a former employee of the Public Works Department at Kopuawhara gave evidence during which he stated that the tragedy was the result of the action of the department in

dumping spoil from a tunnel into the river, the effect of which was : to dam UP the water, which broke ~ away as the result of torrential rain. Othey witnesses called also gave evidence regarding the dumping of soil, but expressed opinions that this was not the cause of the tragedy.

Stanley Gordon Hutchinson, clerk, residing at Waikokopu, said he volunteered to give evidence as he. considered he could throw some light on the tragedy. He knew thp stream which ran past No. 4 camp well, as he worked at No. 5 camp with the Public 'Works Department for about 10 months. He knew that the department had been dumping all spoil taken from No. 6 tunnel into the stream, about two miles above No. 4 camp site. In December, 1936, there was a small flood in the stream and the tip-head was. washed away. That was where the spoil was dumped into the stream. Rails aud sleepers were carried away and left in the bed of the stream. He considered that there must have been a considerable amount of spoil in the. stream, as there had not been a flood since then. He visited this place about four and a half months ago. The spoil was consolidating, but he could not say how far it went out into the stream.

Thought Water Would be Dammed Up.

In the event of a flood he considered that the water would be dammed up, and he considered that to be the cause of the disaster. He thought the fact that spoil was going into the bed confined the stream considerably. The stream, he though, would .have room to expand to a certain extent. To the coroner witness said the spoil was actually dumped into the stream. Questioned by Mr. Willis, witness said it would be about eight months since he worked for the Public Works Department. He was Put off because there was no light work for him. He did not pretend to be an expert on the question. He was only a layman. He was there in the locality about three months before the disaster. been some discussion at W’aikokopu about the disaster for some, time, and his reason for giving the statement was that he had been asked by the police. He would say the spoil was not dumped into a disused bed but into the river—actually into the water. He denied that there was an unused corner on the river bed where the spoil was dumped. Witness said he worked at that particular site at various times and said he saw some hundreds of truck loads of spoil dumped into the water. The spoil would be about 10 or 12 feet high. Some of the water went round the end of the dump and some of it seeped through. Mr. Willis: So far as you ar e concerned it is all guesswork? Witness: It is not guesswork. It is what I saw. If you put spoil into any stream it will block it to a certain extent. Foreman’s Evidence. Frederick Gordon Yeo, who was foreman in charge of No. 4 camp, was the next witness called. He said he occupied a hut at the camp and had been living there for about 15 months. It commenced to rain about 10 a.m. on February 18 and continued until about <4 p.m. It started to rain again about 7 p.m. and continued raining heavily all the evening. He looked at the stream when he was going to his hut from the Y.M.O.A. at about 9.30 p.m. The water in the stream had risen but he did not think it was dangerous. It did not cause him any concern. He went to bed about 11.30, and it was then raining heavily. He was awakened between 3 and 3.15 o’clock the following morning by a man named, Tracey. He went into the hut and told w-itness that the stream was rising at the back of it. ’ Witness got up straight away and went'outside, it was then raining very heavily and the water was rising, lie tried to switch on the light but they would not function. He went to the top of the camp with Tracey, who had gone to wake others. He met some men coming from the cookhouse, who told him there was no hope of getting out that way. He then told them to get on top of the whares. The water was then up to his kneei He climbed to the top of one of the huts, where there were four or five' others and, while they were there, an electric light pole fell on to the chimney of the hut. He bound the pole to the chimney with wires and then the hut collapsed and left him clinging to the pole. The others went down with the hut. The

water was still rising and about 20 minutes afterward the’pole was rooted out. He went along with it and was swept to the cookhouse. He scrambled on to the roof of the- cookhouse and stayed there until the flood had subsided. He considered'the camp site was a safe one. He would say it was. 100 per cent, safe .under normal conditions. To the coroner witness said he could not say whether the dumping of spoil ’had anything to' do with the disaster. Thought Camp Quite Safe,

Te Ngaio, a survivor, said he thought the camp was quite safe. He had seen the stream higher than it was when he went to bed. He saw a number of heavy logs lying on the banks of the stream after the flood and he did not think the rain that was falling when he Went to.bed would be sufficient to bring. the logs down. Witness said he had worked at No. 6 tunnel and had seen spoil dumped in the river-bed. The last time he saw the tunnel Was about the end of August, and he did not think the spoil dumped in the river at that time would cause any damming. George Annersley, concrete inspector, said he had been employed at No. 6 tunnel since December 1, 1937, and worked during the afternoon of February 18 and from 4 o’clock until midnight. He knew that the Public Works Department had been dumping spoil moved from the tunnel into the stream, and on February 18 there was a fair amount of spoil in it. The river was not narrowed by more than two to three •feet during the. time he was there, as the spoil was dumped along the bank of the stream and not out toward the centre. He considered there would be a channel of at least 50 feet to allow the water to flow past. Witness added that in his opinion there would be no possibility of the stream banking up as the result of the spoil. He passed the tip nt about 12.10 a.m, on February 19, and it, was then raining very hard. He examined the tip and found the stream had risen two or threp feet. He was quite definite,that the water was not obstructed in any way at that time. Michael Kelly said he had been working at No. 6 tunnel for about 15 months and was employed dumping spoil into the stream. He started work at 4 p.m. on February 18. It was raining hard. He thought there would be about a chain of spoil from the side of the river out toward the middle. There would be about another chain for the river to expand if necessary. He took particular notice of the tip when he knocked off at midnight and saw parts of it falling away. He did not -think of the likelihood of. it being washed away. He saw the tip washed away about seven or eight months ago. The rain was then much heavier. There was no chance of that class of spoil banking the water up. The tip was gone at 3.30 in the morning. His opinion was that the disaster was caused by a cloudburst between midnight and 3.30 a.m. The inquest was adjourned till tomorrow.