STORM AND FLOOD IN AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12468, 12 January 1904, Page 6

STORM AND FLOOD IN AUSTRALIA.

GREAT AMOUNT OF DAMAGE. BOATS AND YACHTS SUNK. NUMEROUS FLOODS AND WASHAWAYS. Adelaide, January 3. Heavy rain, accompanied by severe thunde~ and lightning, fed over the city and throughout a great portion of the State on Saturday morning. The rain continued the greater part of the day. During the night a terrific wind sprang up from the west, doing con- ! siderable damage to suburban gardens, fences ■ and structures of a light character. 1 21 j the gulf the wind was especial!., severe, as- : sinning the character of a heavy gale. i At Glenelg the full force of the storm ap- ! pears to have been experienced, a heavy sea ! dashing along the jetty from end to end, , raising the decking in places, and carrying i away the steps. Those interested hi boat- ! ing and fishing had an anxious time, as boat j after boat left her moorings and disappeared. I Four boats belonging to The Glenelg Dingey j Club were wrecked. Mr. Murray's yacht I Darwin sank at her moorings, as also did ] Mr. Boucaut's yacht Claris. The beach . north of the jetty was strewn thickly with ; wreckage and boatmen's gear. Some fishing j cutters were out, but succeeded in getting j to shelter. i At Port. Adelaide, Mr. B. Farrelly, mana--1 ger of the Glenelg swimming baths, notic- ' ing about eleven o'clock that the barometer j had fallen to 29.4, had his family and some I lady visitors hurriedly sent ashore. Just J as they were leaving, about 60ft length of j bathing boxes on the south side of their ! residence Mas swept with a terrifying crash j into the sea. With the help of some residents nil the party were safely conveyed ashore, but the baths suffered damage to the extent of about £250. Ashore, the damage was not serious, but itinerant caterers for the public amusement, who were camped along tho beach, were flooded out by the j high tide, and had to beat a hasty retreat. At Brighton Mr. J. K. Luxinoore's yacht I was sunk at her moorings, and Mr. B. j Cough's nshing cutter broke from her moorj ings, and was driven on .0 the beach. Some j damage was also done to the decking oi the I jetty. j Heavy thunderstorms, with phenomenal 1 rains, Mere experienced right through tho northern districts. Around Quorn the creeks were running bankers, and the bridges i were submerged and roads washed away. 1 The biggest Hood ou record is reported at ! Willochra. On the main road from Wil- ; mington to Willochra the flood was five j miles wide, the water running over the ' fences. At Willochra bridge the depth of the water was 17ft. Broken Hill, January 3. j The Menindie mail, which left Broken Hill j on Monday, did not reach its destination till j Thursday night, having been stuck up at Quondong Hotel. Owing to the flooded state of the country, on reaching Quondong the driver had to ride one of the horses to the hotel, where a buggy was obtained, in ! which the passengers were removed from the ; coach. I Two men endeavoured to swim the flood I on horseback, but were washed off, tend manI aged to climb into the fork 01 a tree, from ; where they were rescued by people from ; the hotel with ropes. The mail driver states ; that he never saw the country so flooded • during the 12 years he has been travelling ! over it. i The heavy rain along the river has had j one peculiar result, especially around and ! below Menindie. It washed away the top ; layers of sand, the accumulation of years, j and many interesting curios, aboriginal and j others, have been hud bare. On the site j of one of Burke and Wills' old camps a i Government official was able to gather seveI nil interesting mementoes of the explorers. i The past year's rainfall in Broken Hill amounted to 1-1.26. The greater part of j Ibis fell within the last four months, and it | constitutes the second highest fall for one year ever recorded at the Barrier.