WAIKATO IN FLOOD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17491, 8 June 1920, Page 6

WAIKATO IN FLOOD.

WATER STILL RISING

MANY ROADS BLOCKED.

HAMILTON WHARF SUBMERGE!" Reports reached Hamilton yesterday o the damage caused by the heavy down '! pour of rain on Saturday night. The Win '" ter Show buildings were flooded and thi i; exhibitors had considerable difficulty « i ! packing up their exhibits. On the Devia , : tion Road to Raglan thero have beer , i heavy landslides and it is feared that I traffic will be blocked for some time. It 1 the Kirikiriroa Head Board District sev ' , eral culverts have been washed cut and ( I bridge was carried away in the suburbs of Hamilton. In some cases the water entered the houses. Last night the Waikato had risen higher than it had been for years and it was still rising. The wharf at Hamilton was under water yesterday afternoon. Tho Herald's Huntly correspondent advised last .night that tho Waikato River 'was in heavy flood, having risen nine feet. It' was still rising at the rate of one inch, an hour. No Vain had fallen since Sunday I morning. There was a largo amount of I water on the Great South Road between Huntly and Rangiriri, the depth in places being as much as three feet. It WO3 imi possible for motor-cars to get through, j and dangerous for horse-drawn vehicles. At Huntly South two roads near the ; river were under water. A small slip oc- | curred on the railway line to the Puke--1 miro mine but tho men worked all day on Sunday and cleared the line. , , A report from Te Awamutu last evening stated that by noon on Sunday much low-lying country adjacent to the Puniu River and tho Mangapiko and Mangahoe streams was under water. The rainfall from Saturday night to Monday morning was 4.93 inches. Tho borough water catchment area on the Pirongia Mountain, which was washed away in recent floods and was temporarily repaired, is constantly patrolled. There are largo quan* tities of debris behind the intake but no damage has been done, although the stream is abnormally high. In the Waipa County two small bridges have ?oho, but only slight damage is reported. The road between To Awamutu and Cambridge over the*swamp is flooded in sev■ral places, also other roads in the vicinity, i )ito culvert near Otc/rohanga has gone. I >ut it is hoped to get the trains through I .o-morrow. |