FLOOD DAMAGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22344, 15 February 1936, Page 15

FLOOD DAMAGE

NORTHERN HIGHWAYS THE WHANGAREI COUNTY ESTIMATE GIVEN OF £10,585 [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] WHANGAREI. Friday "The magnitude of the damage to roads and bridges resulting from the recent heavy flood has shown the need for wider co-operation and organisation of our resources to cope with an extreme situation where many vital traffic routes are blocked, especially to the daily collection of cream and other primary products," said the chairman, Mr. J. A. S. Mackay at a meeting today of the Whangarei County Council. The chairman moved that the district engineer of the Public Works Department, Mr. R. H. P. Ronayne, be approached with a view to setting up a special organisation, consisting of himself, other local departmental engineers and overseers, together with the county chairman, the engineer and the clork, as an emergency committee to deal promptly in future with any widespread damage by floods to roads and bridges throughout the county, the establishment of such a local emergency organisation being required to co-ordinate efforts and to assure immediate control and action with a minimum of delay and in mobilising local resources in labour, tools, equipment, supervision, etc. The damage in the Whangarei county as. a result of thp floods was officially estimated as follows: Highways, £4185; riding roads, £6100; total, £10,085. Appreciation was expressed by members of the assistance given by members in clearing the roads of slips. The chairman's motion was carried. The Dargaville Chamber of Commerce wrote asking the council to urge upon the Main Highways Board that, owing to the repeated flooding of the Whangarei-Dargaville highway, something should be done to raise the road to a level that would cope with ordinary flooding. Mr. Mackay said the place concerned was Taylor's Flat at Tangiteroria. The work would be an expensive one and the locality was in the Hobsou County. However, there could be no harm in giving support to the request. A motion was carried accordingly. OHINEMURI COUNTY AREA COST OF REPAIRS OVER £B3OO [BY TELEGRAPH —OWN CORRESPONDENT] PAEROA, Friday Reporting at the meeting of the Ohincmuri County Council yesteiday the engineer. Air. 10. Shaw, stated that the approximate estimate of the damage caused by the recent storm and flood in the Ohinemuri County area would exceed £S;J()0. The damage to main highways was estimated at £4600, and the estimated cost of repairs and replacements to other roads and bridges was assessed at £3700.

WANGANTTI COUNTY WORKS TOTAL ESTIMATE OF £19,000 [by telegraph—owx correspondent] -WANGANUI, Friday An inspection of flood damage on the Wanganui River Road, involving a journey of 70 miles on horseback, was made bv Mr. R. R. Dawson, engineer to tho Wanganui Countv Council, accompanied bv Mr. J. Lissette and Mr. H. Hermans, Public Works supervisor, yesterdav. The damage on the road is estimated at £BOOO. a figure which includes the bridge erected last year at Jerusalem. The latter has collapsed, but the timber is still in the bed of the stream. The total damage in the county is estimated at £19,000.