FLOODS IN EUROPE

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 4 January 1926, Page 5

FLOODS IN EUROPE

COVER WIDE AREA. FIVE COUNTRIES SUFFER. CONDITIONS IN BRITAIN. BY CABLE —PRESS ASSOCIATION COPYRIGHT LONDON, Jan. 2. Owing to widespread floods in England many football and hockey matches had to be cancelled. . Thames overflowed its banks in several places, and is still rising. M.ahy bungalows in Surrey and Chertsey weie cut off, boats being employed to deliver goods. LONDON, Jan. 3. The West of England and Wales were particularly affected by the floods. The rise of the Avon resulted in the putting out of action of the power statioi” at Warwick, which owing to the absence of electric light was thrown into darkness, while trams were brought to a standstill. Business in the shops was hampered. The main roads are impassable. _ , . Several other rivers overflowed thenbanks and caused extensive damage, especially to houses in the low-lving districts "in Monmouth. East Bristol. Cardiff and East Devon. MEN RENDERED IDLE. ALARMING SITUATION IN FRANCE PARIS, Jan. 2. The floods are extending to the provinces. In some places the floods have assumed alarming proportions. Damage estimated at several million francs was caused at Regimen Caen, Normandy. Thousands of workmen have been rendered idle in the north-east owing to the necessity of closing the factories. DUTCH DYKES BURST. NATIONAL DISASTER CAUSED. PLIG HT OF THE! BOBU DAT fOIN. AMSTERDAM, Jan. 2. A dyke on the Ale use near Cuych collapsed. Torrents were rushing into the eastern pant of the province of Brabant. The (situation is critical. The King and several Ministers visited the inundated regions. The Minister for Labour telegraphed unemployment pay to the flooded districts. Ihe possibility is 'being considered by requisitioning thousands of pumps throughout the country and concentrating them on the flooded areas. Over eight thousand houses at Liege are under water. The Government, is taking measures to cope with the disaster.

The floods in tlie districts of the rivers Meuse, Waul, Rhine and Lek assumed the character of a great catastrophe. The .railway dykes collapsed in .several places and are threatening to collapse in other places. The damage is so serious that it may be a month before railway traffic can be resumed. Several villages are partially evacuated and cattle have been transferred to the higher land. The authorities are working day and night, to assist the population. A Hague message states that the Queen, the Prince Consort and vicepresident of the Dutch Red Cross Society left to ascertain the damage by floods in the provinces of Gelderland and Limburg. A message from Brussels states that the Belgian newspapers and the Belgian, Red Gross Society have opened funds in aid of the victims of the floods, which constitute a national disaster. The bursting of the Meu.se dykes owing to the floods swamped the Belgian coalfields and inundated 25,090 houses. Hundreds of cattle were drowned. Their Majesties visited the inundated regions in a boat, followed by a second boat loaded with foodstuffs for distribution to the population. The whole regions between the rivers Meuse and Waal are nit present flooded. Military police in boats are rescuing l>easan,t families from attics in the farm

houses. The roads and railways are crowded with people who fled from their homes, leaving all their property behind. The level of the Meuse and Rhine has risen a further 20 inches during the last twenty-four hours. The streets of Venlo are flooded to a depth of 40 inches ar.d Utrecht is under water.

THOUSANDS HOMELESS. UFfTNEI’S RECORD RISE, BERLIN, Dec. 31. The Danube, Rhine 'and Elbe valleys are inundated ami towns and villages are isolated bv Hoods. Only the hill on which Cologne Cathedral stands is not submerged. Thousands are homeless. 'Germany is still affected by the floods, which are reported all over the Continent. The Rhine chronicled a record of .‘VII feel above normal. The water reached the third floor of some houses bordering the river. Traffic and business at the markets were suspended. Quantities of furniture and other wrckage are swirling down the stream. Tin* losses are estimated at millions of marks. DEATHS AND DAMAGE IN HUNGARY. I OKI PACK IN EK EEC'! I'AI.I-Y BOIM BED. BUDAPEST. Dec. 31 Aeixiiplanes .throughout the day li'uit-les-sly bombed the ice pack 150 feet high which is blocking the river Moms. Eire army engineers were drowned while endeavouring to rescue Families who have taken refuge on the roots or houses .for the past four days. There are many deaths and greatdamage from floods throughout Hungary. Thirty-six miners were entrapped' in the Marsujvor mine and drowned.