TRAIL OF RUIN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23191, 10 November 1938, Page 10

TRAIL OF RUIN

:—.Sl. ■ OTAGO DELUGE DEAFENING tOAR ORCHARDS WIPED OUT PREVIOUS VISITATION* [BT TELEGRAPH —OWN CORRESPONDED] • DTJNEDIN, "Wednesday Tho clay broke iii the Coal Creek ' district this morning on scenes of indescribable chaos and denotation following on tho disastrous deluge of Tuesday evening, which sinundated an area of nearly a square mile with huge boulders, rocks, timber debris and flood waters.

It was without doubt tho worst: visi. tation of its kind expe.rieiticed in Gentral Otago, and since it occurred in one of the richest and rnosli productive sections of the stone fruitgrowing re . gion it must be easily tho most costly. It is difficult to assess the damage caused, but a leading Roxburgh orchardist said that if th|> losses were put down at £IO,OOO it 'irould probably be an understatement of the case. Downpour in Old Mau Range

The downpour occurred in the Old Man Range at almost tile same spot that a similar deluge was, experienced seven years ago. Fortunately most people in the district realised what had occurred in time to evilcuate their houses and get to safety,, Had it occurred during the night at least a dozen people must have lout their lives. Rain pelted down in' sheets for half an hour. Spectators state j;hat tall poplars on the hillside were bent almost to an angle of 90 degrees by the weight of the falling rain, aiid then the whole range for a distance of about a mile simply catapulted tons of water on to the flats below.

Four Walls of Water In an incredibly short ijpace of time every gully was filled with a raging flood, which, in its mad rush downhill to the river, carried everything before it. An eye-witness, who watched from the opposite side f)f the Molyneux River, said to-day that at one time he could distinguish four solid walls of water aftd rocjc many feet high crashing down from the mouths of gullies. The roar of the terrible avalanches was deafening- and all the itime it rained in torrents. In a : little over half, an hour the fury of the deh'ige had 6pent itself and it was possible to take stock of the damage. / r

Damage to Buitylings Below every gully the long trail of destruction stretched I in widening sweeps from the foothills to the roadline, which in one place was crossed by a landslide and in many others was completely submerged* by water. A score of orchards and thousands of fruit trees were affected. Several dwellings and the Methodist Church at Coal Creek were flooded and one house, which stood right in the line of an avalanche, was all but swept away. It is unlikely that it will evter be habitable again. '* '• Three men were cauglnt in another building and carried 30 yards before they could escape, and on numerous properties outhouses ;&nd packing sheds were seriously damaged. Inopportune T:lme

The irony of the situation is that at this time last. yeai, J the district was commencing a period' of dry weather, which caused heavy hisses in all classes of farming, and now, j within six weeks of the stone fruit hairvest and almost on the eve of strawberry picking, a deluge has wiped out some of the best orchards in the locality. Actually the gxeateir part of the fruit crop will be able to j be gathered, although with great difficulty, and returns should be very fair. Young fruit lias not been affected at all. In all • the damaged orchards, however, it be impossible to usij the customary floats and wheeled vehicles, which greatly facilitate picking, and tho task will be a difficult and in some cases a hazardous one.