DAMAGE FROM FLOODS

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 24, 29 January 1923, Page 8

DAMAGE FROM FLOODS

SLIPS ON RIMUTAKA ROAD

TRAFFIC STOPPED TEMPORARILY)

Recently the Mayor of Wellington, warned citizens that the reservoirs were not nearly so full as' the engineer would like, them to be, and that, as the driest spell of the year had yet to come, people with gardens must refrain from watering them unduly. Apparently the driest period of the year, as Mr. Wright said, has yet to come; it certainly has not yet arrived. Rain has fallen every , day, and the ground is now thoroughly > soaked. During the week-end the conditions ■ were particularly changeable. After a thunderstorm on Saturday the weather became' clearer, and improved as the night progressed, until, at the breaking of Sunday, there was a clear sky. This' rapidly clouded over,' however, and there were several showers and a heavy rainfall in the early evening. Conditions improved this morning. Rainfall figures have now reached the unusually high total of 5.77 inches for January, or more than a fifth of the total rainfall for the whole of last year, and far above the average of rainfall for the month of January. Little damage has been reported in the Wellington district, but the heavy rain has caused a number of landslides on the road on the Featherston side of the Rimutaka hills, temporarily blocking traffic. The old motor, bridge, situated about a 'couple of miles to the south of Featherston, collapsed about the same time as the slides took place. The Public Works Department, on receiving advice of the landslips, loaned to the Featherstori .County (the local body under whose jurisdiction that portion of the road is) a number of men who are engaged on road-widening operations on the hill. A telephone message received from .the Public Works office at Kaitokfe at 2 p.hi. slated that the road was again open for traffic. The road formation carried dut by the , Public Works Department on the Kqitoke side of the Rimutaka hill stood the downpour exceptionally well. No material slips have occurred there, and traffic has been maintained withput any difficulty. ■ • ' ' The official forecast is'for warm and humid conditions generally, with rain following. Rain should be heavy in the Wesfi Coast and southern districts. Winds are expected to be westerly, veering to northerly, strong to gale, about Cook Strait, and moderate to strong' elsewhere.