VIEWED FROM THE AIR

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 97, 27 April 1938, Page 6

VIEWED FROM THE AIR

Wide Area Under Water

DESOLATE SCENE

From Our Own Correspondent.

HASTINGS, L: A Night.

Seen from the air, the damage done in the vicinity Napier and Hastings by the floods can be fully realised, and the paths of the waters clearly traced. This morning it was seen that almost two-thirds of the land between Eskdale and Pakipaki arc under water, with houses isolated, farms covered in silt, and roads flooded or blocked by slips for a length of more than 40 miles.

A flight was made this morning by Mr. P. van Asch, of the New Zealand Aerial Mapping Company, accompanied by a reporter, for the purpose of gaining some idea of the damage done by the flood. The general impression was that of a great area of land covered for varying depths by an expanse of muddy water dotted here and there with houses, trees,' farm buildings, and fence tops. Some of the watei was from one or other of the rivers, some merely surface water, but there was more land under water than dry or even partially dry. The first sight from the air after the company’s monospar left the Bridge Pa aerodrome, was a vast sheet of water, about a mile square, on the western side of the road at Pakipaki, and extending up to Mr. Neil Campbell’s property near the hills. The water was not moving at all, and all that could be seen of the land below it was an occasional house, shed, or clump of trees cearly visible against th- uniform tawny-coloured background from 1000 feet up. At east Pakapaki, on both sides of the railway track, and extending past the lime works, was another sheet of water, aparently more shallow, but showing no prospect of being moved for some days,

The plane followed the bed of the old Ngaruroro, distinguishable from the surrounding country only because the water appeared deeper there, towards Havelock. Beginning with a glimpse oii the Tukitiuki river behind the Havelock Hills, and continuing to where Seinde Island could be seen jutting out above the surrounding country was almost a continuous sheet of water. Clive was well under water, and from this distance there appeared to be no break between, it and the sea.

Beyond Te Mata Peak, the Tukitiuki, brimming bank to bank, ran bet ween hills that were scarred with slips in all directions. Men could be seen at work clearing two slips on the Waiinarama road, the largest being near Mr. Len Field’s property. Across the hills to Te Awanga, passing on the way above the Moraetotara stream, which was above normal, but which was shown by large expanses of silt on the banks to have dropped considerably in the last few hours. Haumoana Lago,on Gon A course was taken along the beacn where the Tukituki was seen raging out to sea at Haumoana. The Lagoon had disappeared, and the flood waters -rould be seen surging far out into the discoloured sea. There was only a narrow strip of beach left between the sea and the flood waters overlying everything. There was a rowing boat pulled up at the steps of the Clive Hotel* the road being more than a foot deep inwater, with a small car abandoned in the middle. All the houses were surrounded by water, and one dairy farmer was milking cows in a yard filled with water that came up to the shins of the animals.

From the air, the efficiency of the Tutaekuri control scheme was easily to bo seen. The river was well in hand, and Meeanee, usually struck hard by even minor flooding of the river, was troubled with surface water only. The collapsed span of the road bridge was clearly visible, but the railway bridge was quite straight. After Clive, the water lessens, but on the other side of Napier the Ahuriri lagoon was back to its pre-earthquake state. Water extends from the Napier-Bay View road back to the foothills in an unbroken sheet. The Beacons Aerodrome was under over a foot of water, with the new wireless station showing out of the water. The damage looked differently in the Esk Valley. Here waters from the flooded Esk river had receded, leaving a trail of damage behind them. The floor of the valley was covered in a mass of still wet silt, shining in the bright sunlight. The rail track was choked with debris, and appeared to be washed away in some places; the Napier to GisBorne and Napier to Taupo roads showed sometimes from beneath the water, and in these localities were studded with slips. A bridge was buckled ant heaped high with logs and tree branch- “ These hills are just as much damaged as the Kopuawhara hills after the disaster there,” said Mr van Asch. The smooth green slopes of the low hills in .he area were scoured and pitted in innumerable places with small and larg*. slips caused by the weight of the water they were called upon to carry. A few miles further on, the Ohiwai stream had returned to its bed, leaving behind it a 'dden countryside covered in silt or areas of surface w? to ’* 1 Mr T. H. water alternately. There were large Lowry’s Okawa property, and large accumulations of debris on both bridges on the middle Crownthorpe road. From the air it was impossible to tell if the »*oad was passable.