THAMES INJUNDATED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18381, 23 April 1923, Page 8

THAMES INJUNDATED.

BUSINESS AREA FLOODED.

DAMAGE TO RAILWAY.

CARRIER DROWNED IN FLOOD.

[BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] THAMES, Saturday. Serious floods occurred here last night owing to the exceptionally heavy rain which fell through the whole of yesterday and during the night, with ' incessant thunder and lightning. All the creeks in the district were flooded, and considerable damage was done at the northern end of tho town. ". i In the Waiotahi Creek the framing leading to the new concrete channel became blocked, and the water of the creek, which was running full, tore out a new channel down the road. In places the road was completely washed away and destroyed, and thousands of tons of debris were carried down into the street.

The Moanataiari Creek also overflowed and was diverted down the road, carrying away a large quantity of mullock, which is piled up in the streets to the height of several feet. The whole of that end of the town is covered with yellow slime and water for 2ft. or 3ft. deep. All business places in Albert Street are flooded, there being some 2ft. of slime in them this morning, so that all business has been suspended in that part of the town during the day. The business people could be seen all round with bare feet, and trousers rolled up, sweeping the slush out of their premises. They included lawyers and bank officials. It will be some time before the town returns to its normal state. Further north the Tararu Creek bridge approaches have been washed away, and a number of slips have occurred along the coast road, which is quite impassable for traffic pending repairs. The Karaka Creek, running through the centre of the town, was also running full last night, and serious fears were entertained of its overflowing and flooding the business centre. Fortunately the ram eased off-somewhat in time to evade this, although an overflow took place in Queen Street and flooded some of the residences. At Parawai the Kauaeranga stream was running bank and bank { and overflowed in a number of low-lying places, and eome of the roads were under water. Several washouts have occurred on the railway line, and all railway communication has been suspended. William Miller, a well-known old resident of Thames, had been missing since mid-day yesterday, and fears had been entertained by his family and friends that he had met* with an accident in one of the flooded creeks on his way home to dinner. A search of the waterfront and foreshore to-day shows this to have been the case, as his body was, found on the flats in front of the town this afternoon at low water, whore it had evidently been carried by the flood. Deceased was a married man, and has been following the occupation of a carrier for a considerable number of years. An inquest was held, and the evidence showed that the deceased was last seen by Henry Mounte shortly before 1 p.m on Friday going along Willoughby Street in the direction of his home, the nearest way being across a footbridge across the Hape Creek, which was in high flood at the time, the water being over the bridge. The body was found on the mudflats at half-tide on Saturday, and it was concluded that the deceased slipped over the side of the footbridge when crossing it and fell into wthe creek, which was running down at a great speed, and was unable to extricate himself. The verdict by the coroner was that the deceased was accidental}*' drowned, deep sympathy being expressed with the widow and family.