GREAT FLOODS IN BLENHEIM.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume VIII, Issue 1421, 9 September 1886, Page 2

GREAT FLOODS IN BLENHEIM.

(UNITED PBESS ABSOCIATIOn.) BLENHEIM, September 9. Owing to a heavy fresh in the Wairau river, after continuous rains, there is one ot the severest floods in Blenheim known for many years. The principal streets are two or three feet under water. The weather is still threatening, and the floods rising. The railway line between Opawa bridge, Blenheim, and Grovetown is washed away, and traffic is suspended. The full extent of the damage is not yet known. The flood is quite as high in Blenheim as in 1868, and the Wairau ia still rising. Shops are dosed and business is at a standstill. The water is breast high in some streets, and three to tour feet in the centre of the town. Fears are entertained of the Spring Creek railway bridge, some piles having shifted. A large area of country districts is under water, and there is considerable loss of sheep, cattle, and horses. The Express is unable to publißh today, as the water bas put out the fires, a circumstance which has never occurred before. The strong rooms of the banks are inundated, and boats are rowing in tbe streets. The extent of damage is not known yet. The weather is clearing up. The flood in the market place rose twelve inches in four hoars. There is no railway communication, as parts of the line are washed away. Families are being removed in boats from private houses and taken to hotels.