WAIKOUAITI.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 919, 22 February 1868, Page 3

WAIKOUAITI.

The following is extracted from the Waihouaiti Herald of Eriday : — One of the most disastrous storms ever witnessed in Waikouaiti, took place during Monday night, the effects of which are indeed of a most serious nature. On Sunday evening rain commenced to fall, and, at intervals, continued during Monday. About five o'clock on Monday evening, however, the rain began to descend heavily, accompanied by a S.E. wind, which, as the night advanced, gradually increased in violence. Darkness, however, prevented precautions from being taken to prevent the mischief likely to ensue from the storm, and it was not until daybreak yesterday morning that anything like an idea was formed of the quantity of rain that had fallen. Early in the morning the Waikouaiti Biver presented a spectacle

vsuch as no one living ever remembers to have seen. The low lands of Cherry Farm was an immense sheet of water, extending beyond the tollgate in the direction of Hawksbury, a distance of lialf a mile ; and the road line could only be traced by the telegraph posts standing at intervals here and thei-e, several of them being washed down, and the wires broken. The extent of the flood may be imagined, and the impetuosity of the river guessed at, when in its violence it literally wrenched the Waikouaiti Bridge in twain, and carried the one half away with the cuiTent, leaving the other standing as a momento of the catastrophe. The strength of the current must have been enormous, and the pressure of water against the bridge immense. At the extreme end of the standing half of the I bridge the foundation had been started, and that portion lifted some six inches inches above its former level. The principal cause of the bridge being washed away is supposed to have been the accumulation of timber, brushes, and scrub, washed down from the ranges, which, must have formed a dam, until, the pressure becoming too great, the bridge gave way. We fear that Mr. John Jones will be a heavy sufferer from the inundation of Cherry Farm, but to what extent we are not in a position to state, as communication with the opposite side of the river, at the time we write, is impossible. The evidence of severe loss to some one is painfully traeable. On the banks of the river, and along the sea beach, where they have been washed up by the tide, scores of carcases of sheep are laid, victims to the fury and suddenness of the flood. The gale of wind which was blowing during the night has added to the series of catastrophes which have occurred — blowing as it did full into the harbor. Several buildings erected at the Sandspit for the storage of goods landed by sailing craft have, with their contents, been washed away by the fury of the waves, or levelled. Mr. Paget, who has through his own spirited efforts spared no expense in increasing the shipping facilities of the port in so far as his means would permit him, will, we regret to say, be a heavy loser, if not almost ruined, by this disastrous affliction. It is premature at present to estimate the extent of the damage done, as until the subsidence of the Waikouaiti river, and the calming of the ocean, no approximate estimate can be stated. The damage sustained throughout the district is estimated to b& very heavy, and all communication by coach is, of course, for the present stopped. The repairs to the Waikouaiti Bridge necessary to render it again available for traffic will take months to accomplish, and unless permission can be obtained from Mr. John Jones to use the old road through the township, the inhabitants of this and surrounding districts will be placed in a most awkward position. The Waikouaiti Beach is strewn with large pieces of timber, portions of the bridge, barrels of ale, casks of brandy, bags of flour and grain, bales of wool, and other goods washed from the stores at the Sandspit ; while the sea dashes its waves with fury on the beach. The unusual spectacle induced the inhabitants, in large numbers, to personally inspect the debris of the storm's violence. From other sources, we learn that considerable damage has been done northward. The new bridge spanning the Pleasant river has been completely washed away, and the bridge at Flag Swamp, to which we alluded in a recent issue, is now rendered totally unsafe to cross. At Palmerston, disasters dire have come to hand. Shag Valley was inundated, and the Shag river rose so high that communication from one side to the other was rendered an impossibility. The enterprising proprietor of the Shag Valley Flour Mill, Mr. Bunciman, has sustained, we regret to say, a most severe loss; the mill, house, and stables, having been swept away, himself, wife, three children two men, and a female servant, at the imminent risk of their lives, having with heroic fortitude, remained from twelve o'clock in the evening till seven in the morning on the water-wheel of the mill, until they were rescued from their perilous position by the praiseworthy conduct of a man named William Gray, who swam across to their assistance with a rope, a temporary boat having been made by the inhabitants, when they were safely brought over. Mr. Rich, we may mention, who witnessed the sad calamity, offered, with commendable Christian sympathy, £25 to any one volunteering to fetch a boat from Waikouaiti to relieve the sufferers. Mr J. Duncan, a liverystable keeper at Palmerston, at once accepted the offer, and without delay started on his errand ; but on reaching Pleasant Eiver he was, much to his regret, compelled to retrace his steps, the river being so flooded that he could not effect a crossing, the bridge, as before stated, having been washed away. Grlovers's store, at Palmerston, has also sustained injury from the flood. At Pleasant Valley, Mr. J P. Hepburn, of Brooklands, has lost 1000 sheep by the flood ; and Mr. J. Paget, shipping agent here, had, we have just learned, forty-five bales of wool, a number of bags of flour and other stored goods, his dray and harness, and a building erected on the banks of the river, washed away. No traces of many of them will, in all probabilit} 1 -, ever be discovered. The cutting on the Dunedin side of Brnnton's Accommodation House has been completely choked up, so that the up-coach yesterday morning was impeded in its progress ; and had xiltimately to return to town.