BREAKING OF DROUGHT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23284, 1 March 1939, Page 11

BREAKING OF DROUGHT

BOUNTIFUL RAINS FALL STATES OF AUSTRALIA FLOODS IN SOME AREAS (Received February 28. 10.15 p.m.) SYDNEY, Feb, 2S Bountiful rains hare fallen over a large part of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in the past 48 hours. These have partly broken a protracted drought and replenished the storage dams at Burrinjack and along the River Murray. Eastern and northern districts of Victoria received a thorough drenching, and now there is a danger of floodings on some of the Gippsland rivers. Queensland reports state that four inches of rain at the week-end broke a three years' drought in the southwest. Latest reports state that floods, which have caused washaways on railways, have replaced drought conditions and bush fires in inland areas of New South Wales, Victoria and parts of South Australia. The best rains for over a year have fallen in the wheat and pastoral areas of New South Wales and it is still raining. Similar conditions prevail in Victoria, where, in the north-east, upward of seven inches of rain have been registered since Friday. Rivers are running to the level of the banks in Gippsland. In Melbourne the rainfall of 7.72 in. for the month represents an all time record for February. Fruitgrowers along the Tamar River, Tasmania, suffered heavy losses through a gale which destroyed from 25 to 30 per cent of the pear and early apple crops. . i