KAIPARA FLOODS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18681, 10 April 1924, Page 10

KAIPARA FLOODS.

SOME GBAYE DAMAGE. ISOLATION OF SETTLERS. GLORIT SUFFERS HEAVILY. PERIOD OF "STARVATION/' •DAIRY HERDS NOT MILKED. The floods in tho Lower Kaipara have resulted in grave damage in several Districts north of Helensville. Those place which seem to have suffered most severely are Glorit, near the shores of the Kaipara Harbour, Kaipara Flats, Makarau, ami Hoteo. The phenomenal downpour of last Thursday, coupled with heavy rains each day till yesterday, have caused thousands of pounds of damage to properties in these districts, while the harmful effect of the floods on milking jstock has also to be considered. SeUlers in the districts mentioned have also undergone isolation, but now they are being reached by launch, road, and telephone. Damage to properties in other districts is quite light. The flood is universally acknowledged as the worst which this particular part of the country has experienced. The oldest Maoris in the Glorit district have not known such a flood before. Despite the trying times of the last week, people in the worst-smitten districts are keeping cheerful and happy, though it is apparent that normal conditions as regards road and railway communication cannot be re. gained for some weeks, and in certain cases, where bridges have been destroyed, for several months. Yesterday was a comparatively fine day in tho Kaipara district, and settlers were busy at work ensuring temporary means of communication wherever possible. Meat and Potatoes. " The people at Glorit have been practically starving iind living on meat and potatoes," said the postmaster at Giont vesterday. Isolation had b?en made complete by the destruction of the main bridges on the West Coast Road, and it is considered that the main road communication will not be restored for months to come. The extent of the damag-e to property may be gauged from the fact that 100 acres are covered with sand, silt, and timber to a depth of six feet. Torrential min commenced to fall at six o'clock last Thursday morning, and lasted for five hours. During that time, the j rainfall, as given by the Glorit postmaster, reached the astounding total of Min. In an hour, the creeks and rivers rose over their banks, and settlers spent the next few hours in attempts to rescue stock. Farmer Swims to Sheep.

One man worked for hours with his sheep, and was forced to swim for much of the time. The rescue work was generally successful, so that losses among cattle anil sheep are not great. The loss by drowning is not to be! compared with the injury to milking herds. Numbers of cows"have gone dry as there has been no feed for them. At* least one herd has not been milked since last Thursday morning. One can thus readily believe the statement that " the cows have gone to ruin." Other herds are isolated on high land, and cannot yet ba moved, as some of the gullies' are flooded with water 20 to 30 feet deep. Other serious Giorit losses include the destruction of a five-acre orchard, 40 years old, trees in which were torn out by the roots. Half of a stopbank three miles in length has been washed away. A State Forest reserve of 2500 acres is described as being " all ripped from top to bottom." A wooished on one property was partially carried away, and the engine and shearing plant is still under water. Notone fence is left intact in the whole district. No mails were received for 10 days. The flood waters are receding only very slowly, probably on account of outlets being blocked by slips.

The Chief Sufferers. Farmers in the Giorit district are thus very heavy losers, among the principal sufferers being Messrs. Hooper and Gardner, Grierson and Bartlett, and J. Peterson? On the first-named farm, which is one of 3000 acres, the loss is estimated at £3000. We are not doing so badly, though practically isolated," said the postmaster .at Kaipara Flats, in answer to inquiry. He stated that, fortunately for the district, the road to Warkworth had been maintained, though all others were blocked. Very bad slips had occurred on all the back roads to the coast, but yesterday, the first fine day for nearly a week, settlers had been endeavouring to clear the roads. In the worst cases, a temporary track was being made round the slips through private property. The load from Kaipara Flats to Warkworth, which is usually a very bad one, has proved a veritable blesfiing, and cream has been taken out over the road, otherwise it would have had to be hoarded, and probably would not have been fit for use when another road was cleared. On the Warkworth road, which has been washed clean by the rains, one bridge was somewhat damaged, but farmers were quickly to work and fascined the break, making the bridge tagain passable for traffic. Silt on Kaipara Flats.

Great damage has been done to properties at Kainara Flats throush the deposit of a thick layer of silt, This silt is described as being very deep and it is thought that the grass will not grow for some time. One .farmer, estimates that his property has depreciated by £8 per acre. Another states that he had a fine green paddock sloping away from his house. This all slipped away, the edae of the ground affected being close to the house. Orchards have suffered severely. Fences are down everywhere, and as a result of boundary fences being leveled, several farms are apparently made into one farm without a fence anywhere. The flood waters rose in an incredibly priori time, and receded fairly quickly. Xo houses at Kaipara Flats were entered hv water so far as is known, though the railway yards were two to three feet deep in water, with a depth of 7ft. in some places on the roads. The people are all happy and cheerful, and making the best of the circumstances, though all are emphatic in staling that they do not want to see another flood like throne which has just been experienced. The first, train from Ahuroa to Kaipara Flats ran yesterday. It carried fruit and produce, which will be taken by road to Waikworth and then bv boat to Auckland. Dinghies; Uned on Farms. The railway line near Kaipara Fiats lias ln'p n badly damaged through the ballast being 'undermined. There is a largo slip at Hoteo and the tunnel is blocked. Trie Hoteo River blocked up in no time and portions of several farms are still under water. Two farmers were yesterday reported to be tstill going about their properties m dinghies. One timber mill as seriously affected and logs which Ife™ 1 /' the time of the rains v s Lal a 7 d - finery at the mill Still ilriC \ l ° n haVe dlsa PPeared. Mill further damage was done at Makarau, 43 miles from Auckland l» \i bevy rains of Monday andlTuesdav? TV . first lob of cream was cot iw-.v t„. 1 . on Monday, but 81 n C3 been more washouts on the roads ail 1 <he task of bringing the cream to the llftunctt landing i, now a difficult one V The cream will now have" to be taken ■~%i S ed*e for some distance, ' and will .; then have to be earned across » washout ~' Iftood water is still considerable at Maka- ...

rau. j As far as tho railway line is concerned, another filling has been washed away hall a mile from the station, and the line is suspended in mid-air. The settlers have had an unenviable time, and as one cheerful lady described it, "we have been kept to our own backyards." Another lady was away from home when the heavy rain fell, and owing to the rapid rise of the Makarau River was not able to get back to the house. She had to be content with distant glimpses of her family, who wero isolated on the other side of tho river. Another settler was forced to swim the swollen river. Although the Makarau people have not been able to round up their stock, it is not thought that there has been serious loss 'in this direction, for sheep and cattle were at once moved to high ground. The usual havoc was played with orchards and fences. Settlers were hard at work yesterday in repair work to roads. The cliffs overlooking the river have been deeply scored with slips. Foodstuffs had commenced to run short, but a system of borrowing one commodity and lending something else relieved the position to an appreciable extent. •'Not much damage" is the report from Wellsford, 72 miles north of Auckland by railway. At the height of the flood the station yard was under water, this being the first time it has boen known to happen. The chief trouble was the isolation of the people, who were cut off from all other districts by road, railway and telephone. Mails are now reaching Wellsford. and the telephonic service has been restored, though the people do rot know when they will see the first railway train. There has been a fair amount of loss to cattle and sheep. Miles of fencing have been swept away, the slips from the hillsides coming down and smothering the fences under quantities cf earth. Two railway workers at Wayby, three miles south of Weilsford, had an unpleasant experience. The men were living in the usual tvpe of railway hut, which is carried on a truck. When the Hood waters descended on the railway line, the force of the torrent swept the hut off the truck, and deposited it upside down a little distance off. The consignments of goods at the station were reached by the rising waters and sacks of manure's and grass seed were thrown into tho flood. Very little damage is reported from Port Albert, which is to the north of the narrow strip which seems to have borne the brunt of the storm. A temporary bridge was damaged to some extent, but this'has now been repaired. In common with the other fruit-growing localities, the orchards at Port Albert, suffered severely, and many young trees were uprooted. ' There are no stock losses. Until such times as the ordinary means of communication are restored, mails for several districts will be taken by launch from Helensville to Port Albert and then overland, Communication with as many of the affected districts as can be served by launch is being maintained by a launch chartered by the Kaipara Co-operative Dairy Company.

NORTH AUCKLAND LINE.

CLEARING GANG RETURN. RESTARTING WORK TO-DAY. The task of clearing the North Auckland railwav line beyond Kaukapakapa will be resumed to-day. A train bringing fresh equipment, "the form of lifting gear, sleepers, and miscellaneous machinery, arrived at Helensville last evening. It also brought four railway hnts for tho large gang of workers, together with provisions for the party. One of tho chief obstacles to remove is the obstruction at the mouth of the Takekeroa Tunnel, while the work of consolidating the line will be a strenuous and lengthy one.

SOUTH OF HELENSVILLE.

KUMEU BRIDGES DAMAGED. LADY DOCTOR'S TRAVELS. Districts south of Helensville have also suffered by the floods, though considerablyless than have the Kaipara localities. Newton's Bridge, near Kumeu,_ on the left of the main road, between Biverhead and Albany, has been washed away, and cream is taken across the creek en a wire. The approach to the bridge on the Sunny-side-Dairy Flat road is partially washed awav, and one corner of the bridge hangs in "mid-air, making traffic impossible. Water is covering the flats to a depth of fcevcril feet. The flats are also flooded north and south of Waimauku. The ycung lady doctor who has recently been appointed by the Kumeu Medical Association. Dr. Marjorie Smith-Wilson, has had her first experience of travel in flooded country. She was called on Monday to attend an urgent case beyond Newton's Bridge, which, however, was washed away. With a companion, she was obliged to take the old road by Cobbler's Hill from Riverhead, which has not been used for many years. The destination was safely reached on horseback and the case attended to. Tho same route could not be followed on the return trip, owing to the darkness-, so it was decided to return to Kumeu through Sur/nyside, a detour jo\f _ (eight miles. When partly on the way it was found that the bridges were six feet under water. An attempt was then made to get round via Albany Road, a further 12 miles. Owing to the flooded state of that road was also impassable.— doctor spent the night at a neighbouring homestead. She returned by daylight on Tuesday to Kumeu, where four other cases were waiting attention.

DARGAVILLE DISTRICT.

AREAS UNDER WATER. KAIHU LINE STILL CLOSED. [BY TKLE(;BAPH. —OWN COURESrONDENT.] DARGAVILLE, Wednesday. The weather took a decided turn for, the better to-day. There is still a great deal of water on the roads and all the rivers are still running very high. The main road between Dargaville and Whangarei is still blocked by slips and water is over the road in several places. It is hoped to resume through traffic on Friday or Saturday. Work on the huge slip on the Kaihu railway is progressing satisfactorily. II is not expected that traffic will bo resumed until early next week. In the meanwhile bread, meat, papers, mails and other necessaries) are being transported by trollies. A number of farmers still have matty acres under water in the Aralapu, Auroa, Te Kopuru and Mititai districts. Some of them have not more than two or three acres of dry land on which to keep their stock. Taken as a whole, however, the damage and loss of stock has not been so heavy as during many previous floods. To-day was the first time for nearly a week ' that regular telegraphic communication could be kept up.