FLOODED ENGLAND

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 5 January 1928, Page 5

FLOODED ENGLAND

EXTRAORDINARY SCENES MANY ROADS IMPASSABLE. STORMS IN THE CHANNEL. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION-COPYRIGHT LONDON, Jan. 4. Extraordinary scenes continue to be witnessed in flooded England. Hundreds of homes are surrounded by water and business men are being ferried along stretches of roads and railway tracks as though they were rivers. Great areas of land have so changed in appearance that Captain Perry, piloting an Imperial Airways- liner from Cologne -had to ret a compass course over the south-eastern countries of Croydon as if he were flying over the sea. DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSPORT. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, Jan. 2. The thaw which set in on Saturday night continues, and fears of floods as the great .accumulations- of snow melt are causing anxiety. Up to the present the thaw .has been gradual, but' rapid melting will mean a recurrence of the serious - flooding in the lower Thames, and riparian owners have been warned.

The emergency 24 hours’ telephone service organised by the Automobile Association has proved of great value to motorists in search of information regarding the state of the roads, many of which are still blocked. A large number of motorists overtaken by snow have not yet recovered- their machines, some of which are embedded in drifts and a still larger number .are stored in country garages in the localities where blocked roads forced the drivers to abandon them nearly a week ago. The floods which are reported from all parts are .being regarded- by the Motoring Association as being as had as the previous snowdrifts. The R-oyal Automobile Club and the Automobile Association are sending out lists of roads made impassable by water, which is 18 inches deep in some cases. Besides the floods additional difficulty is created for road traffic by miniature avalanches which in many places, as the result of the thaw, slip from higher ground into the roadway. Night travelling is of course particularly affected by such unexpected obstructions.

The conditions in the .English Channel are again bad. A strong southwesterly gale is blowing and heavy seas running. This .afternoon’s BoulogneFolkestone boat had to be diverted to Dover.