FLOODS AND DROUGHT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22030, 9 February 1935, Page 3 (Supplement)

FLOODS AND DROUGHT

VILLAGERS BUYING WATER In spite of the fact that last December week-end was the wettest experienced in England for many months, the rain brought little relief to many districts in which water supplies failed entirely during the prolonged drought. December 16 provided the extraordinar3* contrast of deep floods in some areas while in others the inhabitants were paying a halfpenny a pail for water.

The month promised to be one of the wettest Decembers on record. The rainfall on December 17 exceeded the average in most parts of England, Wales and Ireland. The inhabitants of Docking, Norfolk, were, envying the townspeople of Pulborough, Sussex, the 2ft. of water which rendered the main street of that town impassable. " Our water is brought to us in motor-lorries from Bircham Newton aerodrome, 2J miles away, and thankful .we are to get it even at a halfpenny a pail," one of them said. . " We have had a lot of rain in the past few days, but .the springs and wells became so dry during the drought that they will not be of any use until the spring. Farmers are carrying water several miles 1:o their stock, and many of us have forgotten what a real bath j is like." ' ' ,

A telephone call to Pulborough produced a very different tale. "The main street is flooded for the first time for some years," said a householder, " and the water is still rising. Notices have been, put advising motorists that the road is impassable, and flags are also being used to warn them to drive with the greatest caution. Meadows just outside the town are like a vast sea."