FLOOD DAMAGE IN CITY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21999, 4 January 1935, Page 10

FLOOD DAMAGE IN CITY

MANY PREMISES AFFECTED

SHOPS AND WAREHOUSES COST TO ONE FIRM £2OO The staffs of many shops situated toward the lower end of Queen Street were faced with n disheartening sight on arriving at work yesterday morning. As a result of the torrential rain the previous afternoon the basements of several premises were flooded to a depth of from six inches to two feet, while in at least one shop the ground floor itself was covered with water which hud come through three floors, causing serious damage to stock on each floor. However, in most oases storemen, profiting by past experience, had minimised the damage in collars, and it was overflow water from roof gutters that caused the most actual loss of stock. Fort Street Lane was the thoroughfare most affected by the flooding and several shops and warehouses having a rear entrance to this street suffered damage, in spite of precautions taken to offset the danger. On most premises a small brick barricade had been built up round the loading dock to prevent water from reaching the cellars. In the warehouse of John Burns, Limited, however, the flood water in the street flowed over the top of the wall, which in this case is about two feet high, and covered a large proportion of the collar flooring. Pumping Out Water

In places the water was lOin. deep when the staff arrived yesterday and in the lift well it was between 3ft. and 4ft. deep. A man was engaged pumping out the water throughout yesterday. Fortunately, most of the perishable stock had been placed above the water level, but the storeman's office was badly flooded and some of the books were damaged. The greatest damage was caused to Woolworth's stock, but in this case it was not through flood water from the street or drainage mains. Guttering on the roof overflowed and a considerable volume of water found its way through the three floors to the basement. Large quantities of underwear, towelling and fancy goods were damaged on each floor and in the basement over 40 cartons of confectionery, each containing from 301b. to 401b., were affected by the water. The floor of the shop itself was almost two inches deep in water when the staff arrived yesterday morning. It is estimated that damage on these premises amounted to about £2OO. Other Premises Suffer At the rear entrance of Phillipps and Impev's stores the retaining barricade was sufficiently high to keep the water out of the cellars, but an indication of the depth of flood water is given by the fact that water had run into the sumps of several motor vehicles that had been parked in the loading docks. A considerable quantity of water penetrated the basement tearooms of the Farmers' Trading Company's Queen Street premises, and damage was done to carpeting and linoleum, which had to be removed and dried. In this case overflow from roof gutterings is thought to have been responsible. The basements of a number of other shops, including the premises of Hugh Wright, Limited, James Pascoe, Limited, and Hutchinson Brothers, Limited, were also flooded, but, although great inconvenience was caused, stocks had been generally stored sufficiently high to escape damage.