Auckland Deluged; Queen St. Like River

Northern Advocate, 27 July 1938, Page 8

Auckland Deluged; Queen St. Like River

[Special to “Northern Advocate.”] AUCKLAND, This Day. Shortly after eight o’clock last night torrential rain fell in Auckland, and this was accompanied in the latter stages by an electric storm which began at about six o'clock and continued for some three hours. For a quarter of an hour and more, Queen Street was a rushing river, the stormwater system being quite unable to deal with the flood. Water entered a number of shops and some theatres, the whole of the ground floor of Milne and Chpyce, Ltd'., being covered to a depth of a couple of inches, with about nine inches in the basement. The lounge and bar of the Hotel Auckland were also inundated. Streams of water flowing down from Albert Park into Kitchener, and Wellesley Streets, near the Public Library .submerged motor cars nearly to the tops of the wheels. The. cellar under the stage of His Majesty’s Theatre was partly flooded. Motor cars everywhere were stopped by water, which interfered with the ignition system.

Puhoi Suffers.

Puhoi suffered most severely. Early in the evening the level of the water rose with amazing rapidity, and shortly after 7 o’clock the settlement was inundated and all means of access were blocked by swollen streams. Water five feet deep covered the bridges on the road between Puhoi and Ahuroa, and it is thought that considerable damage has resulted. Until the water subsides, the settlement is isolated from ether northern centres. Yacht Breaks Away, The schooner-rigged yacht Tahitienne, of about 100 tons, was broken from her moorings off Shoal Bay, in the Auckland harbour, and carried down harbour by an ebbing tide. The ship was unoccupied, and was sighted by a ferry-boat captain in midstream shortly before 11 o'clock. A launch was dispatched to search for the vessel, and after some difficulty in picking up the unlighted schooner, a line was got aboard and the vessel towed back to Central Wharf. Narrow Escape. A narrow escape from drowning was experienced by Mr Rhcderick Basil Findlay, of Howick. when he was thrown, from Ins motor-cycle. He was riding through the flood water which covered the street to a depth of about one foot. He was found lying unconscious, face downward in the water, by a passing motorist. He was taken to hospital, suffering from a fracture of the jaw. concussion, and severe shock.