TERRIFIC STORM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18323, 13 February 1923, Page 9

TERRIFIC STORM.

JOHANNESBURG FLOODED. GIRL AND MAN DROWNED. SLIPPED INTO TORRENT,, r. . A great thunderstorm was experienced I in many , districts in South Africa on De- > cember 21. In Johannesburg the storm I claimed two victims— man and a girl— both of : whom were washed away in the ' torrent and drowned. The fate which i overtook the child, Annie Rheeder, aged ' 8 years, was a tragic one. At about 5.30 she slipped into a wide gutter in Fifth Street, Vrededorp, and was swept by the , water „ into a manhole and subsequently into a sluit. : The water filled' the manhole, and rescue attempts were impossible until ,it subsided. The body was carried about four miles along the sluit and was eventually found, like that of the other victim, in the branches of a tree, to the. height of which the storm water, had'risen. Fifth Street is very narrow, and runs at a very steep angle down to a manhole where a . large underground sewer runs for a matter of 500 yards. A stonebuilt gutter of generous dimensions leads to this manhole from the top of . the street which has narrow pavements on either side, the houses standing very close up to them. The child was in her parents' house during the storm; but when the downpour had slackened she went out with other children to watch the torrent of water which was pouring down the gutter. Gallant Rescue Attempted. She went to a small bridgeway and while there suddenly slipped and fell into the torrent. The other children cried out and a man named Roos rushed out of a house, and, seeing the child struggling in the water, dashed forward to save her. ' But when he got into the stream, although he managed to clutch hold of the girl, he found himself powerless against the torrent. He was hurled against the stones and injured and the girl slipped from his grasp. In a moment the unfortunate child, before the eyes of the helpless onlookers, was washed inexorably toward the manhole and swept into it. The sewer, during the ' revolt in March, was used by some men who wished to make their way in safety from Milner Park to Vrededorp but despite , its dinjpnsions it was totally flooded with the storm water and it was absolutely impossible for any rescuer to go after the child. . Lantern Light Search. Directly the volume of water lessened sufficiently, however, two men entered the manhole with lamps, and waded down the sewer" in the hope of finding the girl. Another search party with lamps entered the sewer at the other end, where it was still pouring out its storm water into a large sluit. The efforts of the search parties were, however, unsuccessful, and J night intervened with no trace of • the little girl having been found. Surrounding pools of water and sluits were searched, the distracted father and mother of the child taking part. Early the following morning the father pushed further afield, following the main sluit through the golf course, and finally discovered portions of the girl's clothing on a bush. Further .on still was found the dead body of the child, denuded of every article of clothing, bruised, lacerated, and with small hands clenched tightly as if she had bravely tried to gain a hold on some shrub along the bank. Her Battered body was found in the branches of a tren, high above the ground, to which.height the surface of the flood had reached. before subsiding during the night. The body had been carried a dis- : tance of about .four miles. 'The Second Tragedy. Frere Road, Bertrams, ' was the scene of the other tragedy. Samuel Pedlar, a man 50 years ot age, wai just about to sit down to his supper which his wife had prepared when, the rain stopping, he went into the street to see the river which was rushing along in what, before the storm, was a large but empty sluit. It is known as the Valley River, and twists its way through Bezuidenhout and out to Bedford Farm. . ... Mr. Pedlar and two friends of his noticed a ladder being carried downstream and they ran to a bend, just at the next street, in order to secure it. One end of the ladder s was secured, and while Mr. Pedlar was* trying to drag the other end ashore he slipped down the bank and was washed away in the powerful current. His two companions rushed along the bank after the drowning man; but so swift was the stream that he was quickly out of sight. The nature of the river's course added to the rescuers' difficulties, 'ihey did not give up hope, however, and continued through the mud and water to the end of the valley, by which time the sun had set'. ' They plodded on through the dark, and at nine o'clock they, found their friend's body. As in the case of the little girl, the torrent of water had hurled the man into the branches of a tree, and, becoming entangled in the branches, the body remained there while, gradually, the level of the water sank until the tree again stood out. As in the case of the child, all the clothing had been torn off, and there were serious injuries. It is thought , that he probably became unconscious and died from concussion. \ . , Animals Killed. At different points in the suburbs where low-lying streets became uncrossable rivers many animals were killed. Near the Zoo lake a calf was overcome by the stream and drowned. Fowls caught in the open were beaten down and killed, the gutter streams being of sufficient strength to drag them to , (destruction Turkeys were also drowned. Trees were broken and torn out of the ground by rivers which sprang into existence in the course of the storm. The erosion of soil in the valleys was enormous,- tons of earth being carried away, surfaces of roads removed, and rocks forced from their positions. The storm was brief, but its destruction great. It lasted about an hour and a quarter. • ' ■ ■■' _