GREAT INUNDATION OF THE WAIRAU.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 100, 8 February 1868, Page 3

GREAT INUNDATION OF THE WAIRAU.

Monday, the 3rd February, will be a day long to be remembered by the inhabitants of the Wairau, as the date on which occurred the highest flood ever known here; submerging Blenheim—with the single exception of the ridge on which stands the Victoria Hotel, the Branch Bank of Hew Zealand, and the residence of James Sinclair, Esq.—from the Catholic Chapel, in Maxwell Road, to Mr. Farxnar’s in Grove Road. We shall but attempt to describe the circumstances, and if our readers should consider the account too meagre, they must attribute it to the general confusion which has existed in our own premises, in common with others. On Sunday last, about 4 p.m., smart squally rain set in, accompanied with considerable wind from the S.E., which during the night increased to a perfect hurricane, and continued at intervals during the folfollowing day. There was not, however, any signs of flood in the Omaka or Opawa rivers, which intersect Blenheim, until about 11 a.m; on Monday. Indeed we heard it remarked that' these rivers had never been seen so low. About the hour named a spectator on the high ground in Maxwell Road, suddenly noticed the, Taylor river (a small creek which rises on the north side of the Awatere saddle) coming down from the Pass in immense volume, forming one vast sheet of water, breast high, quickly filling and overflowing its ancient and usually dry channels; past the Alabama it came with terrific speed, sur ; rounding Mr. Wemyss’s new residence; destroying his garden, drowning the horses in Mr. Gunn’s paddock, filling the great swamp behind Mr. HorgrOve’s house, then down High-street, and the old gully Opposite Mr. Collie’s, the rushing torrent of water came, carrying devastation in its progress, until the Omaka became equally swollen, and Blenheim was overwhelmed in a Very short period. During the early afternoon persons had begun to prepare*" for a flood such as the last, which occurred on January 1867, but none expected it to reach the height it did. Many of those in the centre of the town to'dk every opportunity of clearing out by any means that offered. At 10 minutes before 6 o’clock, looking towards the new Presbyterian Church in course of erection, we saw it move off the | brick-.piles. a distance of several yards, where" it remained until about 8 p.m., when the still rising waters floated the structure, and it went en. masse - down the current until it reached the .Omaka.bridge. Here the water being about level with the stringers, it came with a crash against them, and there remained until Mr. Gorrie (the unfortunate contractor) succeeded with ropes in securing the greater part of the timbers, which he has since, by the exercise of enormous perseverance, recovered.

At this time cattle, slieep, and pigs came along swimming for dear life—whole stacks of fencing, timber, and firewood, furniture; boxes, &c., all drifting onwards to the great deep. A noticeable feature was that, unlike last year, but little hay or other crops came down, thanks to the fine weather which has latterly prevailed, enabling most of the fanners to house their harvests in time. The water continued to rise until about 11 p.m., when it had reached from 18 in. to 24 in. higher than the last flood, which, until now, was considered the highest known. From that hour, it began to subside, but very slowly, falling some 30 inches, until early on Wednesday morning; owing to continued rain, the Opawa river rose; and again the flood increased about IS. inches; attaining its maximum about half-past 10, when it again subsided* at the rate of about an inch per hour, leavifig a thick stratum of mud, two or three inches deep upon everything the waters had covered. . On Thursday forenoon, people began to seek their homes, although the rivers had not quite resumed theiroriginal The appearance of the town was beyond description, and We cannot atterdpt it; During Monday evening voluhteef- pariae6 ; , ,

manned all the boats procurable, and rescued all who were in danger, conveying them principally to the Victoria and Ewart’s Hotels, whose height and commodious character rendered them available. We heard that the last-named sheltered no less than 100 souls. During the whole of the night, at intervals, shots were heard, and loud cooeying from parties in distress; and so well did the boating parties exert themselves that we believe none remained unanswered, —nor so far as we have heard, has there been any accident to life or limb, although the narrow escapes, we scarce need add, have been numerous. Among those prominently engaged in the boats, who deserve honorable mention, were John Ellis ( Express office), Watson, T. Flowers, in James’ boat; Norgrovo Bros, in their

own boat; Necromancer’s boat, Collinson ; and a blue boat, manned by Messrs. Dodson, Rayner, and Adams ; also one in charge of Captain Frazer, formerly of the Jeannie Duncan, besides a number of smaller ones. Messrs. Norgrove Bros, had a narrow escape from being lost with a boatload of people. On getting into Alfred-sti-eet, where they were going to the Express office (which fortunately possessed the advantage of a second storey), the force of the current bore them past the house, and carried them .down between Mr. R. D. Nosworthy’s store and the Literary Institute, where a number of shoals in the shape of drays stood in the way, fortunately they escaped, and passing up the garden delivered their passengers at the back entrance. The streets, Venicelike, were transformed into canals, and the only communication was by boat. One of the town bakeries—that of Messrs. Bythell and Tait—was half under water, but the other (Messrs. Brown and Sutherland’s) being situate far up tlieGrove Road, was beyond the reach of the distributed the “staff of life” to the beleagured inhabitants of houses having an upper storey, one of whom we saw obtaining his supplies by means of a cord attached thereto. Mr. Adams and Mr. Leek, butchers, —alse-contrived to obtain and supply their customers with meat. An incident occurred on Monday evening which may be mentioned. Two cows which were swimming along Alfred-street succeeded in turning the corner of Elbeck’s shop, one of whom attempted a landing -therein, but was startled at the appearance of another animal in the inside as it appeared through the glass in the window, and seemed disposed to dispute possession. The corner of the shop, however, was successful in preventing an intrusion. The other tried to effect an entrance at Mr. Tuemxnel’s, but was also unsuccessful; both animals swam towards the bridge, but were drawn down by the current near the Institute and went away with the stream. Collie’s bridge was blocked up with a quantity of debris, including a stable and sundry closets, timber, Ac. The bridge in Auckland-street was carried away, but Mr. Daikee succeeded in detaining it, and we hear lashed it to the front of his house, making of it a temporary wharf. We are glad to hear that the works for the new bridge over the. Opawa withstood the rush of water, and that Mr. Ham-' ~ wright, the contractor, has suffered very "little loss. and Mr. Dove, with their families, had to take refuge at Hyde’s hotel: the .house of the latter being built of cob._has m since jmelted away. Mr. Dodson’s hop garden which looked so pretty only a week ago, was covered with water. "We hope, however, that the fine sunshine of the last day or two will remedy, if it does not avert any

damage. We ought not to omit mention of Mr. Sinclair, who kindly placed a number of sheep at the disposal of Mr. Leek, whose stock was supposed to have been carried away. Mr. Sinclair also went round and proffered his services to all who were in want of supplies of any kind. The height of the water may be judged from the following ;—At Lewis’s stables the roadway was neck high ; in Highstreet it was 2 ft. lin. in one of the stores, and much more in some of them ; in the

Express office, never before invaded by floods, at the front 18 in. and at back 2ft. , at Ewart’s, 16in. ; at the Government buildings, 12in.; in James’ bar 3ft.; and at Carter’s store, Maxwell-road, sft. The floor of the new wool-shed of N. Edwards and Co. was just din. above the highest flood mark. The schooner Necromancer lay at the High-street Wharf, but, as the water rose, she went over to the new Wharf at Leeds Quay and made fast. The schooner Sisters, laden with coal from Nelson for Nath. Edwards and Co., lay a little below the Wharf, and swinging on to the bank, was obliged to discharge her cargo, in order to get ofi again. The p.s. Lyttelton lay outside the bar, and made several attempts to enter the river on Wednesday, but could not for the strong current running out to sea.

The aspect of the town and surrounding country as we looked abroad on Thursday was anything but cheerful, yet we have heard little or no complaining, all our townspeople putting a good face on the matter as one that could not be helped, and their bearing throughout was becoming the reputation which they possess of true British pluck and daring. Among those who distinguished themselves during the late disastrous flood by giving assistance where required, and not named elsewhere, the following have been reported to us as deserving grateful recognition : —Messrs. Carey, Gresham, Lewis, Tom Palmer, Avery, and Godfrey Phillips. We are unable to form any reliable idea of the extent of loss and damage on this occasion, which must be immense, and therefore refrain from individualising any instances. The sufferers include everyone in the district.

Accounts from the country continue to come in with reports of damage done by the flood in various localities. At Renwicktown a small creek from an adjoining swamp fed by the Opawa caused some little damage to Mr. Litchfield’s stable. The sudden rush of water down the creek burst the brick culvert, and stopped the road entirely. Mr. Macaulay will, wo understand, replace it by a temporary one in the course of a day or two. At the turn of the road where the Omaka nans contiguous to it, it is much injured, and a considerable quantity of fencing was carried away belonging to Mr. Macaulay, Mr. MTver, and Mr. Adam Jackson, at whose house the water rose two feet, and we hear his garden is destroyed. At Mr. Ward’s residence there is a small stream ordinarily about four feet wide, and a few inches deep; this became suddenly a mighty river, coming down with immense force, bringing trees and debris of various kinds, devastating his garden, upon which great labor and expense had been expended, and reducing it to a mere shingle bed. Mr. Goulter’s homestead was also ruined in a similar manner. Below Blenheim the farms seem to have suffered most during Wednesday evening. Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Harding, it is reported, lost the whole of their stock. A gentleman from the country informed us that on Wednesday when he looked down from the heights the whole plain from above Blenheim to the sea seemed one vast sheet of water. At the north side ot Blenheim we learn that the flood was heaviest on Tuesday. At the ferry, Hathaway’s was three inches under water, at Phillips’ new store it was level with the floor, and at Spring Creek great damage was done by the water. At the Bush the flood was a little heavier than usual, but so far as we have heard little damage resulted. Mr. 2ST. T. Pritchard’s house, although surrounded by water on every side, remained dry. A gentleman from Flaxbourne came in on Thursday afternoon and reported that the Taylor Pass road was destroyed, and he had been obliged to come by the Maxwell Pass. The Awatere district has suffered heavily, an unusually high flood having occurred in that river, resulting in the formation of a new and improved ford across it. A considerable portion (about 300 feet) of the Boulder Bank at the Wairau river month has been washed away, no great evil probably in itself, if the next gale did not close it entirely. Dr. Horne’s sheep on Dillon’s Point have all disappeared—some 850 in number. Numbers of the losses by hundreds, besides cattle and horses. On Thursday, as the waters subsided, a number of houses built of adobe, usually called cob-

houses, fell in ; among the rest we hear of Mrs. Robinson’s and Mr. M. Hart’s at Spring Creek, and Mr. A. Barclay’s at Sinclair’s farm. From Mr. Fox, we learn that at Marshburn the fencing is partially destroyed, and the cottage at Bankhouse, containing all the tools, was swept away, also a large extent of fencing. The Haven bridge between Monro Bros, and Williams’ runs has also been carried away. A fine schooner, the Canterbury, owned by Cunningham and Woods of Lyttelton, took refuge with three other vessels near Cape Campbell from the IST. W. gale, and was then caught by a nor’-wester and driven ashore on the beach. All hands were saved, and the captain came down to Blenheim to seek the aid of the p.s. Lyttelton to get her off" again. Of the other three vessels, one drifted out to sea and the others held their ground. Since writing the above, we have been favored with the report of Capt, Bowton as follows :

“ On Saturday, Feb. 1, left Wellington lighthouse at 9 a.m. with a light northerly wind, the barometer at 29-20. At 4 p.m. on February 2, a fresh breeze sprung up from the SSE, and we fetched under the lee of Cape Campbell; brought up with the best bower and 30 fathom of chain in 44 fathom water. The ketches Emerald and Gem and the schooner Lady Don brought up in the course of the same forenoon. In the afternoon the -wind freshened and hauled due SE, with constant rain, bar. 29-10. At 8 p.m. let go the second anchor, and payed out 20 fathom on both. At 8 a.m. on Monday, February 3, the wind hauled to the E by S and blew a perfect hurricane. Bar. 28-80. Very thick and constant rain. Payed out to the end (78 fathom) the best bower chain and 45 fathom on second anchor ; put a slip rope on the cables, and sent down square yard. The Emerald and Gem di-agged, and either slipped or purchased their anchors and went to sea. At 10 a.m., bar. 28-60, the Lady Don dragged some distance, but again brought up. At 2 p.m. the wind suddenly chopped round to FT, and then to NW, and blew furiously ; payed out on second anchor to bring an equal strain on both ; got the stream anchor and warp ready to let go, the shift of wind having caused the vessel to sail very close on shore, but she rode very easily until 7'30 p.m. In a heavy squall started the anchors. We let go the stream, and payed out to 110 fathom on second anchor. Brought up and held on till 9-30, when, as we suppose, the chain parted and the vessel ran astern very rapidly, the sea breaking all around her. Slipped everything; set the staysail, main peak, and let fall the topsail, and we steered as near as possible for a break in the cliff, and took the ground about 20 fathom from the gulley and about twice her length from the cliff. Got the boat out to carry kedge and warp to the gulley, and to save life if there should appear any danger of the vessel striking the face of the cliff. Myself and three hands landed in the boat with a life line, but on hauling the boat through the surf the second time the line parted and the boat was immediately stove. On Tuesday sent one hand to try and find a guide, and in the meantime the crew and myself were employed in getting provisions and spare sails on shore. Hoisted 10 bales of woolpacks on deck, then hove out 3 tons of ballast in order to heave the vessel past some rocky ground. At high water hove her about ten feet ahead. Next low water, after consultation with the mate and carpenter, and with their advice, scuttled her to keep her from striking at high water, and she now lies apparently uninjured, except the iron tiller and the rudder irons broken.” Captain Bowton left for Wellington by the steamer Lyttelton yesterday morning. It is reported that the Picton road is cut away and destroyed in many places. In the Tua Marina Valley the water was twelve feet deep, while at Picton a flood had occurred of such an extensive character as had never before been known. Access to the Tasmanian Hotel and vicinity and the lower part of the town being absolutely impossible. Mr. Downes, the Picton Postmaster, came through yesterday on business conconnected with the telegraph. He reports that no less than nine of the telegraph posts are carried away on the Picton Road. On eveiy hand signs of the devastation were apparent. On the north side of the Ferry the road was covered with wreck and timber left by the flood. All along the road, the persons working in the. bush had suffered considerable loss. A flood such as had not before been experienced at Picton occurred on Monday last, which reached its maximum about 10 a, m. At 7 a.m. the two footbridges across the Wai-

tohi were swept away ; about 9 o’clock th© torrent forced its way through the new cutting, and came with such force against the bridge as to greatly endanger its safety. The spectators sought by every species of ingenuity to keep it clear of the logs, which came down on the flood, and dammed up the water against the timbers. The jail, by reason of the spread of the river, stood on an island, during the whole of the day the river was impassable. Early on Tuesday morning the flood began to abate, and resumed its wonted appearance by Thursday evening. Considerable property was destroyed, the chief being Mr. Esson. The water, however, did not get into the houses to any extent, owing to the steep gradient of the locality. At Nelson a similar storm occurred, and a waterspout is reported by the paper's to have passed over the town, breaking on the cliffs. Yery heavy floods ensued. At Auckland and Taranaki severe storms were experienced. Capt. Renner stated that he came jout of the Manukau almost upon end. At New Plymouth it was found impossible to do more than exchange the mails. The Taranaki arrived at Picton on Thursday at one p.m., and left again for Wellington an hour later. It seems pretty evident that the floods and disasters have been very generally prevalent throughout this province at least. The arrival of the northern mails will probably inform us to what extent.

Dr. Muller informs us that the rainfall during the first three days of this week was greater than has occurred before in his experience. From noon on Sunday to 10 a.m. on Monday, it was 1-59 inches; but as an accident occurred to his guage on Monday, he was only able to form an approximation. He considers that the following day it would not be less than 2 inches. On Monday evening the wind chopped round to the H.W., which caused the rising of the Wairau and other rivers on the north side. On Wednesday the guage registered -59 inches, showing a total of 4-18 inches for the three days. There can, however, be no doubt that the rainfall was heavier on the hills than in the plain. The barometer kept steadily falling from Friday until Sunday, when the weather was assuming a threatening aspect. In the afternoon it was at 29-81 ; on Monday at noon, it stood at 28-73; at 3 p.m., at 28-61; at 5 p.m. it rose again (the wind which had been blowing from the N.E. having gone round to the JST.W.) to 2 9'40. Since then it has fluctuated very much during the week, rising and falling until yesterday noon, when it stood at 29-32.