DAMAGE AT KAIKOURA

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 110, 10 May 1923, Page 8

DAMAGE AT KAIKOURA

SEA BLOCKS RIVER MOUTHS

(ST TELSGRAfH.—PRBSS ASSOCIATION.) CHRISTCHURCH. This Day. The heaviest flood in Kaikoura's history i 3 reported. Sain commenced on Friday, continuing on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and the district was inundated through heavy seas stemming the rushing waters at the mouths of the rivers. Landslides on the roads to Blenheim and to Christchurch blocked traffic. Telephone and telegraphic wires are down, thus isolating Kaikoura. The Middle Creek rose over the bridge, which is impassable. On the north road the Kowhai River overflowed. On the south road residences near the banks of Lyell Stream suffered heavily. The water is over a foot deep in one residence. The water at the dairy company's office was up to the door handle. There was a depth of three feet at Flower's corner, and the shop is flooded. Shops on the other side of the road, which is at a lower level, suffered heavy damage as well as the stocks. West End residents were forced to seek refuge in the hotels. Long Creek sawmill was washed away, and hundreds of cords of wood, with the engine and saw-bench, lost. Linesmen have been landed at Kaikoura to repair the lines. They are equipped with a harpoon gun to shoot the wires across the streams. The rainfall was 25.8 inches.