RECORD 24-HOUR RAINFALL OF 11-41 INS.

Northern Advocate, 3 February 1936, Page 5

RECORD 24-HOUR RAINFALL OF 11-41 INS.

Whangarei Streets Turn To Rivers At Midnight' rpHERE WERE EXTRAORDINARY SCENES IN WHANGAREI ON SATURDAY NIGHT. WHEN THE TOWN, DELUGED -BY A RECORD RAINFALL, WAS SWEPT BY ONE OF THE BIGGEST FLOODS IN ITS HISTORY. With the tide still four hours to make, the streets were swirling torrents and water was in shops and buildings in low-lying areas. During the night anxious bare-legged business men—with trousers rolled up over knee-height, patrolled their shops, trying to keep out the encroaching tide. Earlier in the day, on the afternoon high tide the Waiarohia Stream broke its banks causing anxiety for the effect at the early morning high tide. The rain continued to pour, -turning a 51-inch rainfall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to a record of 11.41 inches by 9 a.m. on Sunday.

Strange Sights,

sheet of water between two and three feet deep, which, at one stage, blocked traffic, and vehicles wishing to cross Victoria Bridge had to detour via Walton Street.

Even with the tide full out the waters continued to rise, and picture crowds saw strange sights as they made their way into town. The Regent Theatre vestibule, flooded to a depth of several inches and a tearing torrent rushing by outside, was unable to open. Water was licking at the kerbing a few feet away from the Plaza Theatre entrance when the crowd went in for their night’s entertainment. When they came out about 10.30, the tide had risen and it was impossible to leave the theatre except by navigating a stretch of water several inches deep.

The building previously used as a laundry was half full of water

Battle For The Bridge.

At Victoria Bridge itself was enacted one of the dramas of the night—a fight to save the bridge, the only connecting link for traffic from the extensive area between the town and Whangarei Heads.

For several hours it appearedthat the crushing weight of the debris borne down by the tremendously swollen Hatea River, would prevail. The barges used in conjunction with the construction of the new bridge, slipped their moorings and their hawser lines became fouled with a second line of debris, all pressing against the old structure.

Men peeled off their shoes and stockings. Women were pick-a-backed to waiting vehicles. The more adventurous followed the example of the men.

Th*ose who did hot mind wet feet and stockings waded through the flood, dresses draping in the muddy water. And all the time the rain poured down.

It was the borough engineer, Mr H. W. Cormack, and the foreman of the new job, Mr Sissons, assisted by a gang of splendid workers, who finally triumphed* Gelignite was used in an endeavour to move some of the larger logs, but with little effect, but the battle was won by 9.30.

Youths, out for a night’s fun took full advantage of the unusual conditions, and paddled round with roars of delight.

Water Breaks Through.

Just before 10 o’clock, the water which had banked up in Central Park and the area in which the Plunket Rooms stand, broke through into Water Street, the pavement of which was soon lost in a sea of muddy water, which raged down to the intersection of Bank and Vine and Water Streets, and then shot off in all directions. The first business premises to be inundated were those in Water Street, and a special staff of the “Northern Advocate” spent a basy two hours in moving paper and valuable machinery out of reach of the ever-advancing water.

An Amazing Feature.

Perhaps the most amazing feature of the whole flood was the manner in which the high-lying land in the Upper Bank Street, Mairtown and Kamo Road areas was inundated. A solid river ran downhill right from “King Street, where several houses were deeply surrounded, to Wrack Street, down part of Wallace Street, and then across country to Manse Street, and in a leaping torrent, down Upper Bank Street and. Harrison’s Hill. Several residents of Wrack Street were forced to evacuate their homes early in the afternoon, and when the flood reached its height in their area_„

Up To Car Axles.

Across the road Weston’s Garage premises received the full force of the water as it rushed out of the park and across the road, and the water was up to the axles of vehicles. No damage was done, the firm being fortunate in that it had sold its last new car in the morning. Other premises in Water Street were invaded, and from the corner the water charged across the road, straight for the Commercial Cafe. But it did not enter.

in the early hours of the morning, tbe water mark was approaching the height of tables upon which furniture had been stored. /

Cars Abandoned.

In these high streets quite a number of cars were caught unprepared by flooded sections of/the road and numbers of deserted /vehicles were dotted about 200 feet alpove sea level. As the water/ ploughed its way it left in- its wake considerable. damage to streets. lyEany residential streets today are paved with cobble stones covered with' silt, and, in places, chip footpaths have completely disappeared. Further towards the town ; where there are bitumen /patios, whole strips have been torn out, leaving several jagged holes in Upper Bank Street and as far down a£ the Cameron Street corner. !

Seated on the doorstep in stools were two men, and they were actually keeping the flood at bay, with the aid of planks and sacks. And outside the barricade the water must have been nearly a foot deep!

Vine Street was just a torrent, and the same obtained at the corner of. Bank and Cameron Streets and Rust Lane. Here the water, tearing down the bill and round the corner, ripped up sections of the pavement. Houses Get Brunt of Flood. The raising of the footpath in Vine Street saved the Cameron Street business ' houses from the devastation of the last visitation. The majority of the shops did get water, but not to the extent of the previous flooding. Houses backing on Walton Street, the low-lying area into which the Waiarohia Stream debouched t itself early on Saturday afternoon, received the brunt of the night flood. Here the majority of the residents had to leave their homes and find shelter, some in the Town Hall and boardinghouses, but the majority with friends. In that sector —the worst in the town—the dairy factory was the principal victim of the rushing trrrent, and suffered severe damage. Lower Rathbone Street vas also badly hit and residents of Robert Street spent an unenviable night. From Going’s Garage in James’ Street, almost to Victoria Bridge there was a

Here alone the Borough Council will be faced with a heavy*repair bill. So great was the pov/er of the water that large stones were swept from the high la/nd and littered about Cameron Street. }

; Shops Flooded. Practically all the shops on the western side of Upper Bank Street were flooded and here, as elsewhere, shopkeepers are contemplating sales for damaged goods. The proprietor of a confectionery business, assisted by his wife, kept tha sea, which was tearing down the footpath out of his premises by the aid of a timber barricade.

The vestibule of the Regent Theatre was covered, in places, to a depth of 18 inches, damaging expensive carpets, and some of the furnishings. In the lower part of the body of the theatre the water reached a depth of about a foot. Work-Day Scene Yesterday. Whangarei yesterday presented a week-day appearance. In addition to business men, who came down to clean up, numbers of people “out to see the sights” cruised round surveying the damage. Borough workmen were back on duty repairing, temporarily, scoured footpaths in the main streets and generally clearing up the town where large deposits of silt and debris had been left in the wake of the waters. The electrical staff had a busy day repairing broken lines and fallen poles, and the telegraph staff was out repairing a multitude of lines, where faults had interrupted services. It was a busy day for many.