THE WATER SUPPLY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24825, 23 February 1944, Page 4

THE WATER SUPPLY

STORAGE IN THE DAMS EXTRA 200.000,000 GALLONS Tho city water supply gained materially by the heavy downpour on Monday night and by the rain which preceded and followed it. The waterworks engineer, Mr. A. D. Mead, said yesterday that there had been an increase of 200.000,000 gallons in the content of the dams during the 24 hours ended at 7 a.m. The clams were now holding 1,100,000,000 gallons, which was more than two-thirds of their capacity, 1,569,000,000 gallons. Mr. Mead said that he had no gauge readings to go upon at present, but he estimated that the rainfall in the Waitakere Ranges in 24 hours was 2in. or more. LOSSES IN THE NORTH CHILD SENT TO HOSPITAL SHEEP DROWNED IN FLOOD (0.C.1 WHANG-AREI, Tuesday The high wind caused damage in many northern localities, the most serious being in the Kaitaia district. At Herekino a house owned by Mr. C. Tatana was blown over and the owner's son aged four suffered injuries that necessitated his removal to the Kaitaia Hospital. Another building in the same locality was also blown down, while nt Ahipara a garage fronting Ninety-Mile Beach was destroyed. At Te Rore, also in the Kaitaia district, the wind carried away part of the roof of a house owned by ilr. 31. Wallace. More heavy rain fell last night. In the Pakopai area of the Mangakahia Valley over 300 sheep were caught on the river flat and drowned by the rapidly rising water of the Mangakahia River, which is running 70ft. above low summer level in the" highest flood for a number of years. Since the storm commenced late on Sunday night the rainfall in North Auckland has ranged from about 3in. to nearly 6in.y the fall being lighter in the east coast areas. Flood waters are gradually subsiding, but many secondary roads are still closed to traffic. The main roads from Whangarei to Dargaville and to Kaikohe are negotiable only by detours round flooded sections. The main road from Kaikohe to liawene is also blocked by floods, but all other main roads are now open and it is expected that to-morrow will see a complete clearance of flood waters from highways. Interruptions to both power and telephone services were caused by trees and branches falling across the lines, but all faults were soon rectified. Widespread damage was caused to fruit trees with a heavy loss of fruit.

VEGETABLES FOR FORCES CHILDREN'S GOOD WORK (0.c.) HAMILTON, Tuesday Excellent work has been done by the pupils of the Hamilton secondary schools 111 the Government vegetable gardens at Koramatua and Hall's Road, near Hamilton. School pupils will not be employed after this week, and the remainder of the seasonal work will be carried out b - casual labour. A large quantity of vegetables has boon despatched to the armed forces from the gardens during the last three months. BABY CLOTHING FOUND SEQUEL TO HOUSE SEARCH (0.C.) HAMILTON, Tuesday Thefts of infants' clothing from perambulators in the streets of Hamilton led the police to search a house, where a large quantity of clothing was found. Only a small proportion of tho clothing has' been identified. WOMAN KILLED COLLISION BETWEEN CARS (P.A.) DUNEDIN, Tuesday An elderly woman was killed outright. in a head-on collision between two cars near Omakan at about 7.45 p.m. yesterday, The victim was Mrs. Margaret Wilson Mcintosh, widow, of Poolburn. Her daughter, Mrs. Ferguson, who was in the car with Mrs. Mcintosh, and four occupants of the other car, two of whom recently returned from the Middle East, were taken to hospital with injuries.