BIG FLOOD

Nelson Evening Mail, 24 July 1916, Page 4

BIG FLOOD

PORTIONS OF THE CITY INUNDATEg MITCH DAMAGE DONE. HEAVY PRIVATE LOSSES. NEARLY FIVE INCHES OF RAIN IN A DAY. The most" serious floods for 30 years or more occurred in the city on Saturday. Ail day rain fell, becoming heavier as the afternoon wore on. A gale sprang up and raged for some Jiours with great violence. The ground being already thoroughly sodden, "it was feared that the gale -would bring down trees, but fortunately this was not the case, though some trees came down with landslides in various parts. The Maitai and Brook rose rapidly, and by 10 o'clock on Saturday night the water was almost up to the decking of NormanTby Bridge. Had it risen a few more inches the water would have overflowed into Tasman-street. The decking of Trafal-gar-street Bridge was covered "with water, traffic over this structure being temporarily suspended.

The sewers and water courses of ""the city "were completely inadequate ,to carryoff the water, and early in. the evening the streets became flooded. The sewer at the junction of Hardy and Waimeastreets burst, a large quantity of water was discharged from the manhole at'the junction of Hardy and Vanguf.rd-sjbreets, the Vanguard-street ditch "was overflow-. ing in places, and the St. Vincent-street ditch was also unequal to -the demands made upon it, and at several points wa% overflowing. The result of all these discharges of water was the fioodinc of a largo portion of the city. The water pouring down from Vanguard aivd St. Vincent-streets, with, that cOming from the sewers, caused an accumulation to a depth of four feet or more round about the month of Washington! Valley. In 'Gloucester-street, Vanguard-street. Lower Hardy-street, there was'also a considerable depth of water, and every house and shop was invaded. The railway workshops "were flooded, and the shops in Gloucesterstreet had 1 a foot and more of water in them. In the Post Boy Hotel 'thera were two feet of water. Mr Barakat had, a good deal of di'apery spoilt, the Railwav Boarding House was invaded, and Messrs Neale' and Haddow's store suffered some loss. The Commercial Garage in Hardy-street reports plenty of_ and slush, but no damage otherwise, all stocks beincr out of reach of the water. Mr S. Winn's garage, factory, and shop were also flooded, and. the water getting at the dynamo threw the place in darkness for a time. A considerable amount of damage was done. There was [ more or less loss at various shoos. , v All Saints' Parsonage had a foot of water in it, hut there was none; in the Church. There was no service at 'tr b. Church yesterday morning owing to the flood, but last evening's service'was held as -usual. "\ '■':':,

In. Lower Waimea-street, "andi in portions of Bridge-street, and along Wakatu Lane, there was a, great depth of water. The People's Pictures' at tho Theatre 'Royal, were unable to show, as the flood water '.' had entered the'engine •house. Moreover; patrons could not'.ha.yy>\.. reached the Theatre.except by wading. The sacred' concert to have been given, last evening had also to be postponed, the water ira the engine-room affecting the lighting arrangements. / L In Wakatu Lane the water was three feet deep. Mr W. Lock had a, good •of kapoc, bedding.' and : furniture" doni-' aged. The Mail Paper shid had twi feet of water in- it, and a great quantity, of paper has been completely spoiltThe water entered the machine room : 'of the Colonist Office, and also the paper store, a good deal of loss resulting. ; \ The train, coming into town shortly before 8 o'clock came down, the valley, very slowly, as the line was under water ,in parts./ The 'St. Vincent-street ditch overflowed into Mr' Turner's paddock, and the water swept' through several" properties,', arid'.' made its way through Victory Square. Several of the houses in. the vicinity had water in them. The roads and . footpaths in upper St. Vincent-street, and in Toi Tbistreefc have been badly, cut up, and the gravel has been washed" off the railway line at various places. There were several slips in this part of the city. ,' There have been some slips on Wei- 1 lington Tei'race, and, V the ; water from thte new road on Locking's property has washed deep ruts in the roadway, making it impossible for vehicular traffic ' "■".....

AH ocer the city loads and footpaths have beem damaged. Water entered the Raglan Brewery maltrhouso' and cellar, and did a, "-ood deal of damage. The City Engineer (Mr J. G-. Littlejohn), Mir R. Kenning (road foreman), and the 'Council staff were out during Saturday night and all yesterday, doing what they could to lessen the inconvenience arising from the flood.

MAITAI OVERFLOWS. The Maitai overflowed just above •Clouston's Bridge, s andi a great volume of water swept'along Nile-street, all the properties being more or less flooded, the water reaching to the flywheel of thn engine in Fleming's {late NalderV) furniture workshop. The . greatest damage appears to have been done at Mr Greenfield's house, "at the corner, of Nile and Tory-streets. Being in a hollow the house is built on high piles, but it was never anticipated that provision Avould have to ibe mad© for four or five feet of water. At 8 o'clock the inhabitants of the house. Avere-iii' formed of the invasion of the water,, -which by 9 o'clock was over four feet; deep round' the house, while inside there was a foot of water. Mr Greenfield, who is suffering! from a. serious illness, was carried into Mr Edmonds'. house, adjoining. Yesterday morning Mr Greenfield's house presented a deplorable appearance. The water had entered every room, and relatives and ffiends , were hard at work cleaning. Mr E. Baird, living near Clouston's Bridge, estimates that he has sxistairiod £IOO worth of damage. Mr D. WhitingV market garden was under water, : 'and nis fowlhouse was washed aw r ay. A lot of material was swept away from- a.' new house being erected for Mr H. HunterBrown.

Between Hardy-street and Norman'nsBridge the water was up to ■ the way. It got behind the iron' fence a]on<r Mr" Davidson ! s property, on the e'a.-h side of the river. The'.fence lias heeiv demolished.

Between Normanby and Collirigwocd Bridges several properties were invaded. The water came along Halifax-street into Collingwood-street, and the riv«r went through Mr C. King's property; carrying away' a fowlhouse and tho fences. Several properties between Coi lingwood and Trafalgar-street bridges wore flooded. ALONG THE BROOK. The Brook rose to a great height, and the flood water wrought havoc at various points. . Several householders in Se"ir."!iir Avenue and Brook-street have suffered loss which will reach many hundreds of pounds. Amongst||the heaviest losers are Messrs G. Farmehter, Sadler,

Armstrong, and Miss Snart. The stream made a breach just above the property of Mr Parmenter (whose house is on. the Avenue side), and cut into it SO or 60 feet, ,the soil being swept away, together with\ fowlhouse. and 30 fowls, and many articles. In a few hours a large portion of a spick and span holding, on

which, months of arduous work had been expended, had "vanished. and instead there "was a. rushinfi roaring torrent. The scene which met Mr and Mrs Parmenter's eyes when daylight arrived was a staggering one. As stated, some 50 or 60 feet of their ground had already disappeared, and the water was still eating into the bank, until the safety of the house itself appeared to be threatened. "What little could be done to stem the invasion of the water was done, neignbours rendering all the help they could. Below Mr Parmenter's, the stream wa* diverted to the opposite bank, and here the properties of Miss Smart. and Messrs Sadler and Armstrong suffered the same fate as Mr Parmenter's. Ine water was rapidly carrying away the bank, -when the timelv Liberation *of a

big willow tree formed a breakwater which helped to keep the water in the proper course. But for this there is

little doubt hut that one or two of the houses would have been completely undermined. As it was they had a" very narrow escape. Mr Parmenter, who estimates his loss at £2OO, is deeply grateful to those "who assisted him in endeavouring to save his property. At the Bronte-street ford across the Brook a big slice of" the road has been washed away. Here there is a great accumulation of flood debris—trees, portions of buildings, chicken coops, etc. Reaching Manuka-street, is another pile of debris, further evidence of the immense volume and velocity of t'm water sweeping down the Brook. The whole of the "Willow Walk has been washed away at the Manuka-street bridge end, and a, breach was threatened through Mrs Renwick\s property. The footbridge on the Willow Walk where the Brook junctions with the Maitai has been washed away. One of the most serious results of the flood In the city is the putting out of action of the drainage system in the Wood area. This is due to the concrete casing laid across the Maitai below the Trafalgar street bridge being washed away. Mr Littlejohn, the City Engineer, is doing all he can to right matters, this being the most urgent work to be attended to.

Huge banks of gravel have been -washed Tip below Trafalgar street bridge. Properties along this portion of the river have been badlv washed out. The Works "Committee of the City Council is meeting this afternoon, and will make a tour of inspection. UPPER, MATTAI. ' The Upper Maitai Valley presents a scene of desolation. In parts the road lias been washed completely away, bridges have gone, fences have disappeared, and great areas of Mud have been swept away. Sttlers in the upper reaches have to come over the hill, it impossible for even a horse to come down by the road line. Below the Forks the water is running along the hill sid.;., the road at this spot having disappeared. Above and below Mr G. Smith's house the road has gone. At Ned's Creek, the water course has widened to such an extent that a bridge will probably be necessary. Pole Ford bridge has been swept away. Above Messrs Hamiltons' whare the river made a breach, and gouged out a deep waterway. The wire rope stretching to Mr Rout's whare has gone. The Chinamens' gardens have been ■swept away, but the buildings remain. Sharland's bridge has been damaged, and near the bridge a hole has been washed in the road half a chain wide and a chain long. Mr Thomassoo. has lost a great deal of soil, the water sweeping over land he had just sown. The water swept over portions of Mrs Richardson's land, soil and fencing being lost. 'Banby Park bridge has been; washed away. , •

In the South Maitai there has heen a bi? wash-out on the road about half a mile from Mr C. Smith's house.

Mr Brereton came into town from the Upper Maitai this morning. He considers it ■will be several weeks before the damage will be made good sufficiently for settlers to be able to drive in.

A HOUSE SHIFTED.

:'' A big slip came down at the rear of Mr Charles's house, Haven-road. adjoining the Mission Hall, \ The back portion of the house was smashed in. a shed demolished, and the whole building pnshe some feet forward. and yesterday was two feet- over the footpath. A great quantity of debris wid have to be removed before an attemot cans be made to set the house back again. and the bouse is so badly smashed and twisted inside that it is doubtful whether it can be saved. The house next to Mr Charles's, occupied by Mr Galland, has also suffered from, the slip, but the damage here is not extensive. Some of the houses in Russell-stre it ■were affected by small slips, water and debris making a great mess in ard aronnd them. There were also slips in Beachville and Maori Road. ROCKS ROAD. A slip, estimated at 15C0 tons, cam; down en the Rocks Road, just beyond the Basin, scashing the concrete parapet of the wall and carrying away sever.il of the iron standards and chain?. It :s probably the biggest slip that has ever occurred on the road, and will take weeks to clear away. The slip is within the city boundary, and it therefore becomes the duty of the City Council lo clear away the debris. Further along there are- other slips. hut only one that is of serious dimensions. These are on the County Co:;:cil's portion of the road, and "clearing •work is already in hand, Mr Whites!-ie, the Gouhty Engineer, having given .'ustructions" yesterdav afternoon for an immediate "start. WAKAPUAKA. There have been several slips on the Wakapuaka Road, some of them of big dimensions., In some cases trees have come down ■ with the soil. To-day Mr Whiteside, the County Enginer-r. had six men put on to the slips. For a.few days traffic will have to use the beach. The Collins River has encioicherl on the road, and the bridge has bt-en rendered unsafe for heavy traffic. IX THE WAIMEAS. - The Wairoa and Wai-iti Rivers were, in high flood on Saturday, and both overflo-wed their banks in place.--. Th''> main road at Brightwater was submerged. The road between Bright-water and Waimea West was impassable foi» foot traffic. The protective works at Brightwater have had a good effect in preventing the river flooding the low-lying land about Burkes bank. Heavy floods are reported to nave occurred in the Appleby district. The main road between Hope "rid Richmond was under -water. There were some big slips near Bishopdale. The approaches to ih.Q Korere bridge have Jbeert" washed away, but the structure itself is safe.