HEAVY LOSSES REPORTED

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 109, 9 May 1923, Page 16

HEAVY LOSSES REPORTED

KAIAPOI PEOPLE HOMELESS

WATER REACHES EAVES OP

HOUSES,

(BY TELEOBAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.!

CHRISTOHURCH, Bth May.

Heavy rain in the city and reports of continuous rain in the country gave every indication to-day that the damage caused by the storm might be much more serious than had been anticipated. Telegraphic communication with the North Island is being maintained under great difficulties. The West Coast mail route is impassable, and mails are being sent by way of Wellington. North Canterbury mails are being sent only as far a» Rangiora. Springston on the Soufebridge line and Springfield on the West Coast line are the present mail .termini. Hanmer is completely cut off, and the' mail cars did not attempt to run today. Kaikoura is isolated from both ends owing to washouts on the roads and the washing away of bridges.

Amberley presents a desolate appearance; extensive damage has been done to the roads and railway track. Ballast from the railway line is de-. posited on the main streets of the town. Business is completely disorganised, and will be so for some time. Nineteen and a half inches of rain fell in Amberley since Friday. Great ISsses of stock are reported. Some pastoralists lost all their sheep and cattle. WRECKED HOMES AT KAIAPOI. At 10.30 a.m. the north branch, of the Waimakariri River, which had | risen four feet above the highest mark" reached during the spring tides, was rapidly encroaching on the protecting bank on the south side, and fears were expressed that a. terrible flood -would break through the bank at any moment and carry away the houses and business premises in that portion of the town of, Kaiapoi. As the flood tore into the bank, feverish efforts were being made to divert the water into the centre of the river. Trees were rapidly cut down,' and sand-bags placed in position to strengthen the 'bank and resist the onslaught of the angry torrent. Despite these efforts, water poured into the town, most of the streets being flooded. Near the Kaiapoi Woollen Mills the houses were comparatively low-lying, and the water had risen to such an extent that the occupants had had no alternative but to desert them. The water in.. some cases had almost reached the eaves of the houses.

The movement of refugees from their wrecked homes was a moet pathetic sight. Several families, carrying bundles containing their most precious belongings, and with the younger children m their fathers' arms, were seen making their way to temporary shelters, while a number of drays and carts were being used to.recover as much of the heavier belongings as could still be reached. The scene was reminiscent of the flight of refugees in France and Belgium, and in some respects was much worse, because of the torrential rain that was falling incessantly. _ Masses of wreckage were piled about in many places, and numerous fowlhouses floated about in the water, while fowls could be seen perched in trees on the highest places that could be reached.

Over eighty houses in Kaiapoi had to be vacated by their occupants. The abandoned houses are mostly in Sidey quay, Otaki street, Broom street, Hugh street, and on the Cam side of the town. Refugees are scattered over the whole town, all the available halls and public buildings being fully occupied, while a large number have been given shelter with private families. One resident has three families of refugees in his house. Serious damage was done at the woollen mills, which were flooded to a depth of two feet over practically the whole of the buildings. Wort at the mills could not proceed, and the employees, many of whom were rendered homeless, occupied themselves in rescue work.

Serious reports are to hand from the far north of Canterbury, where it is still raining hard. The Waiau bridge has gone in, three spans, and the bridge is impassable. The Conway bridge has been swept out to sea. • Big losses have occurred among sheep on the river flats. Gore Bay is littered with dead sheep from the sea, which were, washed down by. the rivers. Portions of; the lower Hurunui bridge are also on_ the beach. Farms along the Hurunui River have suffered severely. The Waiau correspondent of the "Press" telegraphs to-night that it is anticipated.that the next few days will bring in reports of heavy losses of stock of all descriptions, and of enormous damage to property, while the contour of the country in many parts of the Waiau district will have considerably altered.

SELWYN RIVER TWO MILES WIDE. Practically the whole of Springston and Ellesmere were flooded when the Selwyn River broke its banks. At Ellesmere the. position became so bad that the postmistress had to leave the office. The Selwyn River is two miles wide at the Selwyn Crossing. It is the worst flood experienced in the Ellesmere district for forty-five years. There have been serious losses of stock.

The people of Selwyn had an anxiouß time on Monday night. The river rose from almost nothing on Friday to a stream of enormous volume on Monday. Many of the adjoining farm lands were flooded and several families removed to Dunsan^el for safety. Residents state that in forty years they have not seen a flood in the Selwjjn to equal that of Monday.

The. railway surfacemen had an awkward task set them. A telegraph pole composed of two eighty-pound iron rails fell 'across the Selwyn Bridge, blocking the line. In pouring rain, with the flooded river beneath and in an awkward position, three men set to work in the darkness, which was relieved only by the light of two hurricane lamps, to cut through these rails with cold chisels and a sledge hammer to clear the line for the midnight goods train from Christchurch..

By to-day- the river had fallen very much. All danger was past, and the Selwyn Bridge had withstood its greatest trial.

Those who have been staying at Waikuku, a holiday resort about eight miles from Rangiora, have had a most unenviable experience during the last few days. To-day communication was established with the isolated settlement, a boat being got across. It managed to rescue the two or three families who had been spending a holiday there. A scene of desolation met the eyes, the face of the landscape liaving been greatly altered by the action of flood waters which bad poured out to sea from the streams in the vicinity. A store owned by Mi. Hawkins had been carvied some hundreds of yards and was lying on its side on the beach. A "bach" was also found in similar circumstances. Two shelter cheda fgf tho use of mule and femaja ba.tfiere, ajjd owned by the Wjti-

kuku Domain Board, were conspicuous by their absence. They had been carried bodily out to sea.