HEAVY RAINFALL

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 219, 12 August 1930, Page 7

HEAVY RAINFALL

FLOOD DANGER LESSENS. RIVER LEVEL LOWER. % KO SERIOUS INUNDATION. During the past three days the counW tryside surrounding Palmerston North HR has been soaked with steady downIf pours of rain, and to-day the sky re- * inained heavily overcast and threaten|f ing. According to the records kept by H Mr T. R. Moore, of “Waimarama,” p Terrace End, there has been a rainfall of 2.28 inches during the past 96 hours. M-i For the 24 hours ended at 9 a.m. toll; day a fall of 1.12 inches was recorded and, following on the previous downill pours which have been experienced, this SB' is regarded as being exceptionally J»! heavy. HH Despite the fact that the Manawatu ft R iver had attained a flood level of ff twelve feet at midday yesterday, the ||i Taonui basin and other low-lying areas HI in the vicinity of Rangiotu remained i|| free of inundation, and there was no HI indication of the destructive inroads of |P 6ilt-laden water over the green pasIH tures of valuable farm lands. At the ||§ ; Hamilton Line bend, a point of conIf siderable danger in the past, and the j§K scene of much erosion, the water over- » flowed into the lagoon, but with a later fe subsidence in the river level, the chances §&; of flooding immediately to the south of S®|. Tiakitahuna were considerably lessened. I® Arrangements were, however, taken |Pj: for the removal of stock to higher land Mi: in the event of a sudden einergency Wx- : compelling the evacuation of low-iying areas. ||| EFFICACY OF FLOODGATE. && Settlers yesterday afternoon were unanimous in their praise for the effiof the floodgate at Rangiotu. fiigjy There was a difference of nine feet in »the levels of- the water on each side ||s®of the floodgate, showing how it had llipprevented a serious inundation. On river side the water was running high, being almost up to the •lij'j-road level, and only the protective Nt-Sbanks were preventing its spread. It fejljl'wa 3 moving very sluggishly, indicating ||i»;the extent to which backing up had |MjS; occurred. Considering the unusually SM® high water level, the threatened district was enjoying a remarkable degree ijijly of immunity from flooding, although the position was viewed with some concern. McRAE’S BEND. 'A&' Sweeping round Mcßae’s Bend at Te Matai with flood volume and velocity, Hjt'the Manawatu River was an impressive sight late yesterday afternoon and again to-day. As the flood waters came '.'i; round the crescent shaped bend, the . i f: main stream kept noticeably nearer to PC® the shingle beach than formerly, and i"3 this was a reassuring feature. There was no evidence of extensive fresh ero- . ’ sion and the groynes were holding Mlfv well, although the banks may have crumbled rapidly before the swirling flow lower down by the old racecourse .rpcprrp gg|jf ’ HEIGHT OF RIVER. ivMik There was a drop of twelve inches lliJn the level of the Manawatu River flu ring the five hours following noon |iSSf yesterday, and this lessened the _ apprehension regarding the possibilities HH of flooding at Tiakitahuna. Anticipam tions that the flood waters had. reacliijk'jji ed their peak and would continue to §||| fall were realised when the river level had receded to 10ft 6in at 8 p.m. At HM midnight the river had subsided a further nine inches and at 2 a.m. the i|fl| level of the water was 9ft 6in. ProjSgij bably due to the heavy rain during ijm the night, there was little variation in the level during the succeeding four am hours until 6 a.m., when the river had B receded to 9ft 3in. This height, still considerably above normal, was maing| tained throughout this morning witliai). out alteration. H SOUTHERN HAWKE’S BAY. H Southern Hawke’s Bay has experiW eneed a heavy rainfall and residents of Dannevirke are reported to be surprism cd at the duration of the steady rain. Water has bene flowing over the roadway at Maliarahara, though not sufficiently to dislocate traffic. Official records kept in Dannevirke showed a total of 3.27 inches of rainfall for 41 hours up to 9 a.m. yesterday, and the whole district was saturated, pools of water lying in every hollow. SLIP ON PAHIATUA TRACK. The Kairanga County engineer, Mr J. E. Menzies, reported at to-day’s meeting of the council that a big slip had come down on the Paliiatua Track. Men had been sent out to clear the road, but the extent of the slide was ii not known. § SHANNON DISTRICT. ?| WATER CARRIED TO THE MOUTOA. ' PROTECTIVE work intact. (From Our Own Correspondent.) ; SHANNON, Aug. 12. The flood waters have been safely carried down beyond Koputaroa, at which point they broke into the Moutoa in great volume. ... . The Koputaroa sub-division, which includes Buckley and Aratangata, is quite dry. The water in two places was within a foot of the top of the banks. It is too early yet to state how the protective work has held, but as far as it can be seen it is intact. The Moutoa is full of water thrpug.h breaks and overflows occurring at Spring's Settlement and the Whirokino Bridge. There is a small leak at the . . Makerua stop-bank, and men are out repairing same. Local water is over the route of the old Foxton-Shannon Road. RIVER RISES STEADILY. STOCK REMOVED TO HIGHER t GROUND. (From Our Own Correspondent.) FOXTON, Aug. 12. The Manawatu River rose steadily all day yesterday giving farmers in the Moutoa and Whirokino districts ample warning of a threatened inundation and stock was removed to higher ground in anticipation. Late vesterday afternoon tho river had two foot to rise before reaching tho level of tho November flood in 1929. Fears were entertained for the safety of tho new banks erected by the Manawatu-Oroua River Board to protect tho “cuts” made in tho vicinity of tho Moutoa School and tho work of sand-bagging these now banks was commenced. Settlers report that it is many years since they have seen the river running so fast. This is possibly attributed to the fact that the tides are now on tho wane, the Spring tides having reached the maximum on Saturday night. A great deal of timber is coming down. Late yesterday afternoon tho w-ater commenced to flow into the Moutoa and Whiro- ! kino districts through a gap in the flood banks at Mr Spring's farm Whirokino, where the flood bank was cut last flood to let the water off the area. By night tho water commenced trickling over tho roxtonLcvin highway at Whirokino. At midnight tho road was impassable to traffic with considerable depth of water over it in places. , . , This morning, although tho river is n<?t ■ rising further, the Foxton-Levin highway la

impassable. The Foxton-Shannon Road is clear thus still giving access to the south via this road. HEAVY RAIN AT PAHIATUA. (From Our Own Correspondent.) PAHIATUA, Aug. 11. For the 40 hours up to 9 a.m. this morning, Mr A. W. Hamilton, of Mangamutu, estimated that 3.05 inches of rain had fallen. The week-end . was extremely wet, continuous rain falling. Paddocks were flooded and all rivers and creeks were in a swollen condition. Across the main road past Ngawapurua on the south side of the little bridge entering Woodvillo, the water flowed so high that motorists had to avoid this route. To-day the weaker is still overcast with intermittent raiu.