GALES & FLOODS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 29 December 1924, Page 5

GALES & FLOODS

IN BRITAIN AND NEW ZEALAND. RIVERS BURST THEIR BANKSj > HEAVY DAMAGE REPORTED. . Reports from Britain and-; the . Dominion indicate .that, in both- . countries, storms of_ exceptional, violence,' with tempestuous rain,? .have occurred: - Raging seas,caused: . much damage in the ’Homteland. - The South Island of-New-.Zealand appears to .have .suffered heavily, from floods. The rivers in Canter: bury are running high, an<l the? Ashburton riyer, has burst its'; banks. ‘ : by cabIe—PEESS association—copyright. LONDON, Dec. 28. • A tempest of exceptional violence swept jtke British Isles, causing , much damage on land and sea. - All flying services have been • suspended, and Channel boats which ventured to leave Fplkstone were immediately swept from end to end. - * .The. steamship Piltonliglit!, when bearing up the Channel, ? was blown " • ashore near Barry and was left high and dry when the tide receded. She is expected to become, a total wreck. Another ship broke from her moorings at Spithead and was blown across the Solent and stranded; f ? The Royal mail steamer Sarthe sentan “5.0.5.” from 250 miles from Ushant, in response to which the Port Darwin, of the C. and D. Line, and the Royal mail liner Demarara rushed up and stood by. * . ! Rains, the heaviest for many years, are recorded in Peebleshire. The river came down in a flood, causing very heavy .loss to stock -breeders., ■■The Peebles Royers’ football ground was submerged three feet. . ' Wales also suffered, frpm. a: torrential downpour, particularly, the Rhymney Valley; where fields' were submergedpigs drowned. Long sections .of railway tracks were put out of action by. the seas. - (by TELEGRAPH —PEESS ASSOCIATION.) . . ASHBURTON, Dec. 27. Heavy and- continuous , rain over a / period of forty hours caused almost a record'flood in the Ashburton fiver, which broke its banks in-, several places, inundating, several areas; and isolating farmhouses. - . An, exciting rescue of a marooned family was witnessed near the Ashburton golf links.- Thomas Jackson,- his ■■■■* v, udfe and child, of Auckland, and -Pat-. rick. Mannion, .an . old , age pensioner, .were, in camp. The river. had broken its'banks and surrounded the party. - A f Tinwald resident, George Wesley, ;a Maoti, mounted a draught horse, negotiated the flood., after a treacherous .. ride, and returned with the ; womaniaiid ■ child. Then he brought the mefi to , safety. About a hundred- people r -who 1 witnessed the rescue made, tangible recognition of-Wesley’s bravery. ‘ ‘V, ■ Twenty holiday campers on the river bank were forced -to make a hurried exodus in the middle of the night, the river rising over six inches in an hour. . Grain and throughout the country: were extensively damaged, and several bridges'were damaged. A rium-' ? her of roads are impassable. The oldest residents in -the higher countrystate that the rainfall is. the heaviest experienced. Unless the Tain ceases - the Main South road will be clased to i v traffic. .-.■■■■ '■■•■■•'V RIVERS RUNNING HIGH. TIMARU, Dec. 28. .. As a result- of phenomenally heavy rains in the back country, South Canterbury rivers are all in heavy flood. Much damage has been done to roads, l bridges and cereal crops, ' and heavy losses of stock have been suffered by some settlers living oil low country adjacent to rivers. Road traffic is seriously impeded through the swollen rivers. ■