HEAVY RAINFALL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22318, 16 January 1936, Page 10

HEAVY RAINFALL

FLOODS AT OPOTIKI

RIVERS BLOCK ROADS SOME DAMAGE IN TOWN POSITION NOW IMPROVING [BY TEL EG RAMI —OWN CORRESPONDENT] OPOTIKI. Wednesday Although the rain of the last two days has ceased and flood waters are gradually receding, Opotiki is still comparatively isolated. No cars or lorries can go more than 10 miles from tho town on the AYhakatano Road, or tor more than seven miles on the Motu or To Kaha route, owing to the high level of the Waiawa Bivcr. Service cars are able to transfer at one place on the Whakatano Road, but private cars arc blocked. The threatened Hood in Opotiki last night was not as serious as was at first anticipated, although a certain amount of damage resulted. Tho stopbank in places was not quite high enough to hold the water in check. However, . a compensating factor was that the Waioeka .River did not rise to flood level.

Flooding was mostly in evidence at the northern end of tho town. Irom tho Otara Itivcr a considerable volume of water found its way through Grey Street and across Church Street to tho yards around the wharf. Tho flood level rose to within about 3in. of the floor of the goods sheds. In Grey Street and in part of Church Street the water was 2ft. Gin. deep. One or two houses were flooded and nearly all the gardens in that direction were inundated. The latest advice is that the Waioeka. Road is passable for traffic with careful driving. The rainfall registered for the 21 hours ended nine o'clock this morning is 1.81 in., making the total for the month exactly lOin. MORE FLOODING LIKELY POSITION AT WHAKATANE DANGEROUS RIVER LEVELS [BY TELEGRAPH—OWN CORRESPONDENT] WHAKATANE, Wednesday As a result of the recent rains most of the Bay of Plenty rivers overflowed their banks at high tide to-day. More rain is expected and flooding is likely to become fairly considerable, as it is still raining in tho back country. The Whakatane-Opotiki main highway is blocked at Taneatua, "Waimana, Niikuhou and Waiotahi, and the deviation route over the gorge is somewhatdifficult of access. The llotorua-Whaka-tane main highway is still open, but the rivers are dangerously high and with more rain they are likely to overflow and block the road. - For the 48 hours to nine o'clock this morning the rainfall at Whakatane was 2.88 in.

DAMAGE AT THAMES VIOLENT GALE EXPERIENCED [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] THAMES, Wednesday Particularly violent weather conditions were experienced at Thames lastnight and early this morning. The velocity of the wind about 3 a.in, was abnormal and gardens suffered in consequence. The fishing fleet in the firth had an anxious time, and Mr. W. Reddish lost seven nets and anchors, worth about £-10. Tho nets were heavily weighted with jellyfish, which are prevalent in the firth at present. The wind blew down tho Fire Brigade's demonstration tower on the reserve -near Queen Street. It was so badly damaged that it will have to be reconstructed. WHANGAREI IMPROVEMENT DAY OF WARM WEATHER [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] WHANGAREI. Wednesday The weather in Whangarei to-day has been beautifully fino after the past few days of rain, and conditions now are practically normal. The atmosphere, although warm, is less oppressive than it was yesterday. CONDITIONS IN NORTH TRAFFIC BACK TO NORMAL [by telegraph—own correspondent] KAITAIA, Wednesday Fine summer weather has been experienced in Hie Far North to-day in contrast to tho rainy conditions earlier in tho week. Tho wind gradually veered to the west yesterday afternoon and then to the south-west and tho rain ceased. Although the roads were open yesterday morning, further flooding occurred in the afternoon and the main routes were again closed for traffic. However, all routes to the south were open this morning and traffic returned to normal. A feature of the flood was the rapidity with which tho waters rose and receded, the peak of the flood lasting for only about half an hour. Tho Mangonui County Council has engaged a number of men on the removal of slips on the main roads and these have now been cleared sufficientlv to allow traffic to proceed. HUNUA GORGE SLI? FINAL TRACES REMOVED Tho Hunua Gorge Road is now clear, tho final traces of tho large slip which fell on Monday night having been removed yesterday. While tho men wereworking on Tuesday stones and small quantities of earth fell all day and a further small slip came down during tho night. However, traffic has been able* to pass since Tuesday night.