DAMAGE BY THE FLOOD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18897, 20 December 1924, Page 12

DAMAGE BY THE FLOOD.

MSTERTON DTtrNDATED PHENOMENAL RAINFALL. TORRENT SWEEPS SUBURB. FAMILY'S NARROW ESCAPE. RESCUED FROM DWELLING. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] ■•.:-,. MASTERTON. Friday. • The storm which commenced on Wednesday morning increased in its intensity after midnight on Thursday, and at 2 a.m. tho town was literally pelted with rain. Driving sleet whirled through tho darkness, making the footways unsafe. With unabated fury this phenomenal downpour bombarded tho town and surrounding district, and in a very short space of time had the low-lying levels again inundated. The drains proved totally inadequate- to cope with the surface water, and street intersections wero soon eddying a mass of storm water and refuse. . Shops in the main streets which are subject to flood under, these circumstances wero quickly invaded by surging water, which made inroads wherever the least resistance was offered. Small creeks on the west side of the town proved most troublesome and swamped ' the south end of Masterton through the water backing up and overflowing. The substantial fall in both Colo and Essex Streets proved an admirable bod, and both thoroughfares ran two feet deep. Gardens and backyards were completely under water. Christmas Goods Damaged. Shopkeepers were early on the scene. The water in some instances was up to a depth of two feet over their floors and was buoying up all goods stored below that level. Large consignments. -of Christmas goods awaiting distribution - suffered most. The site occupied by Knox Church resembled an island, the flood whirling around the- basement. The first sign of life in the borough this morning was. the freezing workers, and their efforts in wading through the flooded streets were amusing. - • The dip in Queen Street was a sheet of water. A .motor-car attempted to negotiate' it. Apparently the driver lost his nerve, and pulled up safely anchored in the middle. Efforts to restart his engine proved of no avail. In the meantime a call. for assistance was received from Lansdowne, it being stated that a treacherous torrent was invading many homes and threatening loss of life and property. The cause of the ' trouble was at the southern end of the dam, on Maunsell's Hill, where a stopbank, 20ft. high and about one and a-half chains in width, sealed the end of the dam. The breaking through of this caused Lansdowne to suffer the most serious disaster in the history of the northern suburb. Waters Sudden Onrush. '■'■■.The dam, which is half a mile long, 150 yards wide and about 15ft. deep, had not much bottom surface and it was known' that in heavy weather there was ' always a slight leakage through the stop- ' bank. With Thursday night's heavy rain, however, ' the pressure'became too great for the buffer to resist, and it gave way, - the whole bank being scoured out in a ] very few minutes. ' 1 Down charged the waters over a steep ' incline to Third Street. A small bridge ' and 'handrail, together with a concrete . fence, were'the first obstacles to the torrent, and these wero swept completely r away. Simultaneously the deluge charged ' into the-residences of Mr. L. A. Wad- I am and Mrs. "Hill. The latter had anti- .< cipated trouble and had left the house on Thursday night, but Mr.. Wadham and > his family were overtaken. Their ordeal ' v can scarcely be imagined. ' ( ;

Entrapped Family's Plight. Buffeted about in two and a-haif feet of water in total darkness and with a thundering torrent whirling the furniture before it as driftwood, the plight of the entrapped family was very grave. The Sutherland brothers from a nearby house, learning of the impending danger, summoned assistance, and with the greatest difficulty succeeded in rescuing the Wadhams and their three children, with the ■use of a rope connected from .the house across the drive to the boundary fence. Mr. Wadham's loss is considerable, for his section comprised splendidly laid-out gardens and a rockery. These were completely swept away. Mr. Wadham's purebred fowl farm was demolished, only 20 birds surviving. "Tho water entered the house at a terrific rate," said .Mrs. Wadham, "and before wo had time to act we were waistdeep." Ani. inspection of their beautiful home reveals that the water rose in each room to about two and a-half feet, and in doing so t>ss-jd the Chesterfields and sideboards' about as matchwood, greatly depreciating their value. A valuablo piano also fell i a victim to the torrent, which thoroughly Eoaked the instrument. Other Residences Invaded. i

_ After passing through the above-men-I'Wi properties, the deluge followed the course of the stream behind Mr. W. It. Kembali's racing stables and through section? occupied in Second Street by Messrs. T. J. Daly, E. Lee, E. F. Green and M. Fly and Miss Carey, on the north side, and Messrs. T. Barnes and J. Finlayson on the south side. Each house and its contents were thoroughly silted, while anv movable article, and in some cases what were thought immovable fixtures, were swept down with the tide until they bocame finally anchored against some stoutly-built fence or house, perhaps hun-dl-i-dh of yards from their original place. Continuing its career, tho flood surged through First Street, invading as it w.-nt t!io pioperties occupied by Messrs. M. C. Marshall, T. Bacon, L. Carlson, D. Cameron, W. R. S. Spencer, S. Cooper, Miss McMastcr, Miss Daken and Mrs. J. Davis. .Though these properties wore some half a trile from the dam, the volume cf water and velocity cl current was just as ; fierce as it was in Third Street, and those residents who were taken unawares had trying times in coping with their unwelcome visitor.

Fences were swept away with the demolition of cottage gardens. In some caies th«, gardens were in beautiful con. dition, but to-day nothing can be seen . but a mass of driftwood, weeds and slushy • filfc.

An idea of the suddenness of the visitation may be gathered from the narrative related by Mr. T. Bacon. "When the river rose," ho said, "we quite expected a little trouble, but had no idea ths.t it would have such serious consequences us it did. Early in the morning i decided to see if the water had risen as 1 opon< the buck door. It was ' theu floodii through the yard with a roar, swamped through the house, bringing wit it tiltn of ail descriptions, and ueloro v could open the front door to give it £ unousti passage it had backed i and filled every room in the house wit water 2ft. deep." '.the scenes witnessed in all the horn were appalling and the shortage of wati in consequence ol the collapse of tl JLansdovvuo supply a _t.il to tne inconveu euce 01 residents who were all day tryu: to irnop the silt out of their homes. 11 borough engineer had a full gang ( men early on the spot and a comment rotnt was made from the bottom of tl torrent to clear obstructions and gi\ it a clear course. This was effected i a couple of hours and the How subside considerably. The engineer expiesse tha opinion that, had it not been lor tl) course of the Hood down the first iridic being impeded with stout willows, tl volume of water would have been t giea, that tho first houses to have bee struck would have been carried off the; piles with consequent loss of life. An estimate of the damage incurred a Lansdowne runs into £3000. At a sp< cial meeting the Borough Council to-nigh decided to immediately raise a loan <. £.1500 to mstal a temporary water schwni Lansdowne, which is northward of th borough, had a scheme of its own and i now practically deprived of water unt a temporary scheme is installed. Later reports from the country advis further road blockages and losses <. stock. Tho rain resumed to-night, but no with tho severity of the past three day.Tho train service each way is sti maintained, but road communication t Wellington is blocked. It is stated that tho turbines at th power-houso are thoroughly soaked an it will be a month before power is re established. WATER IN CARTERTON '■%' : DWELLINGS INVADED. RIVER BREAKING BANKS. SETTLERS WARNED BY TELEPHONI . [JIX telegraph.— press ASSOCIATION. CARTERTON. Friday. Cloud-bursts occurred in various part! of the district last night, preceded by ( most violent thunderstorm. At about 2.30 a.m. water from twe northern creeks converged and ran througl the town flooding various dwellings anc one or two shops. Farms in the low lying districts of Dalefleid,, Belvedere anc Matarawa were inundated and the roac was rendered impassable. On the railway line between Carlertoi: and Woodside there are three washouts. No trains ran to-day, but it is expected that the time-table will bo resumed shortly. Road traffic is very considerably tampered. The Ruamahunga River at Papawai overflowed and the country was badly Hooded. Losses of stock are reported at Kahutara. The water is just up to the top of the riv;r banks and is breaking Dver. The settlers were all warned bytelephone and though a record flood is expected, it is not anticipated that stock losses will be heavy. Damage to fences, however, is bo;: ad to take place. The rain ceased this afternoon but the weather is still threatening. WASH-OUT ON RAILWAY. RESULT OF CLOUDBURST. TRANSFER OF PASSENGERS. [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION. MAKER. Friday. As the result of heavy rain in Southern rlawke's Bay a washout on the railway ine about two miles north of Mntamau las disorganised traffic. Some telephone vires are down, and this makes communication with the men at the scene of the rouble difficult. Consequently details ire meagre.

Apparently the wasnout started last light, but the line was made safe by the :se of tressels until further erosion" took 'lace. All the trains got through except he noon train from Napier to Palmerston forth and the Wellington to Napier mail. Later . reports indicate that something n the nature of a cloudburst near Norserood caused the water in a culvert to verflow and undermine the rails for a .'stance of lOC yards. Passengers for I north and south were transferred across • i the washou l ,, and those for Napier are due Here at two o'clock in the morning. The mail train is expected to get through tomorrow. THE WEATHER OUTLOOK. MORE FLOODS POSSIBLE. METEOROLOGIST'S EXPECTATION [BY TELEGRAPH.PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON. Friday. Speaking at eight o'clock to-night Mr. A. V. Pemberton, acting director of the Meteorological Office, said: "The outlook immediately is further stormy weather with heavy rain, and floods may be expected in many parts of the North Island and north-east district of the South Island. There are indications that the conditions may moderate to-morrow in those parts. The barometer is likely to rise in the north and fall shortly in the south. There are indications of the i development of a further disturbance ! some distance to the west of the Domin- ' ion, which may have a modifying effect on local conditions." THE WANGANITI DISTRICT. damage to fruit' crops. the Inland areas escape. [rty TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] WANGANUI. Friday. Boisterous weather still continues and it is typical of mid-winter. Heavy winds [ and rain caused great damage to the | fruit crops. ! The rain appears to have been mainly I confined to the coastal are&. Reports : from inland districts indicate that nothing unusual happened. A visitor from Taihape, who arrived in Wanganui this morning, stated that although the weather was threatening when he left the Main Trunk town no rain had fallen through the night. The first indication:; of rain were seen as the train reached this district. The Wanganui County Council engineer was in telephone communication with country districts this morning. He was informed that they had escaped the storm and that nothing more than steady rain had fallen. There had been no damage. At Okoia the water hanked up on some of the low-lying country, but beyond slight wash-outs to the road little damage resulted.