FLOODS IN HAWKE’S BAY

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 April 1938, Page 7

FLOODS IN HAWKE’S BAY

< TORRENTIAL RAIN NAPIER ISOLATED (per press association.] HASTINGS, April 25. : Thousands of pounds of damage have • -been caused, thousands of acres of > farm lauds are- lying under several ■ feet of water, and road) and rail com|munication between Napier and Hastings is entirely cut off by probably I the severest floods' in the history of i Hawke’s Bay, the result of three days of torrential rain. | To-night, Napier is isolated, as l the Gisborne and the alternative south roads 1 are blocked. Road' communication from Hastings! south is also ■ blocked. Families have been forced to abandon their homes, in many districts, and the losses of stock are believed to be heavy. I The railway bridge and the new concrete bridge—two important bridges between Hastings and Napier —were buckled up by the force of the swollen Tutaekuri river. The road from Hastings to Palmerston North was the only main thoroughfare' open to traffic early to-night, and flood waters of the Pakipaki are threatening this. Telephone communication to Gisborne and' Wairoa and' many outlying districts was cut off throughout the day. Enormous damage is l reported from Esk Valley, 12 miles from Napier, where the main bridge on the Wairoa highway was destroyed. Thousands of acres of pasture are covered with... feet of silt. One.- farmer alone has lost 400 sheep. It was reported late this evening that the main road south from Hastings' was blocked at Pakipaki. Clive, between Hastings and Napier,. is virtually under water. The residents to-night were rescued- from their houses by boats. Other townships are in a similar plight. Early this morning a huge slip crashed on a, house in North street, Napier. William Lee, an old-age pensioner, was pinned to his bed by a falling beam, and' suffered fractured ribs.

TWO MEN DROWNED. GISBORNE, April 25. Because of slips and damaged bridges, all roads from Gisborne, except to the north, are closed to, traffic, and are unlikely to be open for some days. Six inches) of rain have fallen at Gisborne in 48 hours, five in the last 24 hours. The damage appears to have occurred to the south, the road being blocked in many places. Wairoa reports indicate that the river overflowed the Marine parade, entering houses and shops, and lapping the decking of the bridge. At Tokomaru Bay 12 inches of rain fell in 48 hours. Two bridges were damaged, completely closing the road. On the flats near Gisborne a large area is again inundated, undoing much of the reconstruction work after the last flood. A Maori, Maki Morepi, was drowned while attempting to ford the Waiapu river on horseback. The body of a watersider, Donald McLaren, was found lying in water at Waikanae creek, Gisborne. Apparently he slipped from' the footbridge into the flooded stream.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC STOPPED DEVASTATION AT ESHDALE NAPIER, April 26. The outstanding result of the flood is the success of the Tutaekuri River control scheme, which has been completed. The scheme to control the Ngaruroro has hardly commenced, and from this source most of the danger has come in the country south of Napier. Owing to the collapse of part of the traffic bridge over Tutaekuri at Waitangi, all road traffic is held up, but it is hoped a detour of ten miles, via Fernhill, may be opened to-day. The railway bridge alongside the traffic bridge has been twisted sufficiently to compel the Department to cancel all train arrangements. The latest report, this morning, states that the Ngaruroro overflowed its banks at Clive, where there is now five feet of water in the largest part of the township. This overflow has backed up until it reached Whakatu, four miles to the south. Residents of Clive are refuging in the Town Hall. Napier, apart from surface water and a few slips on the hills, is free of flood damage, but is completely isolated.

At Bayview, there is much water, and the Esk River, instead of flowing to the sea at the usual mouth, has taken the old course and flooded 7000 acres of land reclaimed from the inner harbour by the ’quake in 1931. This water, however, will soon get away when the rain ceases, which appears possible to-day. ~ Devastation exists at Eskdale, where the flood is reported to be the heaviest in living memory. Some railway houses are almost completely submerged, and there is five feet of silt in the railway station yard. The whole valley was inundated, and many people were rescued by the police and volunteers in boats. Every bridge in the district is reported washed away. The road to Taupo will not be open for some days. The road to Wairoa is reported to be in a deplorable condition, even the telephone wire being down. The whole countryside is dotted with slips of all sizes, due to excessive water getting into the earthquake cracks. Up till 9 a.m. to-day, the total rainfall for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday was ten inches 80 points, making the total for the month 13 inches 9.9 points, the highest since 1891, beyond which there are no records. At Riverslea, between Bayview and Eskdale, the railway station has disappeared. It stood on an embankment several feet higher than the road. Stock losses in Eskdale are reported to be very heavy and all market gardens are covered with feet of silt. ' THE WORST OVER. NAPIER, April 26. The weather is clearing, and the worst of the flood is over. It is reported here that the Mohake bridge ha’s disappeared. One road to the South is now openThe water is subsiding, and the rain has ceased in the back country.