15,000 ACRES OF YELLOW FLOOD

Northern Advocate, 4 February 1936, Page 5

15,000 ACRES OF YELLOW FLOOD

DISMAL SCENE AT HIKURANGI SWAMP

A huge saucer, 15,000 acres in extent, with only the tops of trees peeping out of the yellow flood! > That was the impression gained by a “Northern Advocate” reporter who went to the top of the Apotu Kill last night, when the flood in the Hikurangi Swamp was at its height. From Hukerenui to Ngararatunua, and from Apotu to Riponui, the whole district was afloat, making a dismal picture of what a few hours before had been some of the finest dairying land of New Zealand. Only the eaves of Mr Nuthall’s home, near the Jordan Road, were peeping out of the water. His pigstye was completely obliterated.

The whole of Mr Nuthall’s property was. covered to a depth of about eight feet, and he had no knowledge of the whereabouts of his dairy herd of 30, or of his pigs.

A Severe Sufferer. Nearer to the foot of the Apotu Hill, Mr J. Holmwood has also been a severe sufferer. His place, too, is completely submerged, and water is well up in the abandoned house. Prior to leaving the dwelling, some of the furniture was hurriedly piled to heights of safety, but a visit in a boat later, and a glimpse through a window, showed it to be floating round the room. The family have lost some very valuable oil paintings. Mr Holmwood saved his herd, which is- being milked on higher ground . A few weeks ago, Mr Holmwood, in an endeavour to defeat the frequent flooding, constructed a stopbank right round his property, costing several hundreds of pounds. It was built a foot higher than

the level of the. previous record flood, but today it is nothing more than a retaining wall, the water having breasted it by at least four feet.

Here and’there, in the midst of ’ the ' flood, there could be seen the tops of / haystacks, some still with their tarpaulin covers placed there to keep the hay dry, Mr Storrar was one of the more fortunate ones. He had taken his stock off his property during the flood of the week, before, and they had not been returned before this 'last visitation.

River Must be Widened. Discussing the situation in the Hikurangi Swamp area, an old resident of the district told a pressman today that it gave weight to the argument % consistently made by the “Advocate” that until the Purua River is widened below Lewis’s bridge, flooding such as that which is submerging so huge an area can never be averted. He had never seen such an accumulation of water, yet it was significant ill that at Ruatangata bridge the level . | of the river was eight to ten feet be- | low the record flood level. This was ■ | due to the deepening of the river below the bridge many years ago when the swamp drainage operations were begun. He had seen the watier up to the middle handrail many years ago, but, on this occasion it was not within six feet ‘of the decking. Yet, higher up, there was this tre- ,-ij mendous accumulation of water that could not get away, because the outlet had not been increased in keeping with the work that had been done to drain the swamp. The strengthening and deepening of streams and the cutting of drains brought the water down with great rapidity to the outlet—the | Purua River—which was not big enough to cope with it. The bottleneck below Lewis’s bridge wps preventing the river from func- | tioning as it should, and the disastrous state of affair obtaining today would continue until the waterway is ■ widened. That, in the opinion of the resident, was the lesson of the flood.