FLOODS IN DUNEDIN.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10958, 26 December 1911, Page 6

FLOODS IN DUNEDIN.

REFUGE ON THE ROOF,

(Per Press Association.)

Duncdin, December 24. The weather is still very unsettled, and the prospects for the immediate future are anything but promising. Heavy rain fell early this morning and for a'few hours this afternoon. The' residents of Woodhaugh and North-East Valley had an anxious tunc. In the former locality a flood came down suddenly about 4 p.m., and considerable damage was done. Fowlhouses, fowls and clucks were washed awav, and iii manv houses £here was 3ft or 4ft of water. The citizens got a severe fright, and made hurried preparations for exit, several seeking refuge on the roofs of their houses. The Woodcnd bridge was partially washed awav, and the postal mail-cart had to be abandoned owing to the rush of water, and the horse and trap were washed away, the former being drowned.

At North-East Valley there were about 18 inches of water in many houses, and in some it was 4ft or oft deep. In this locality, too, much damage was done. The rain has cleared off now. and the flood waters are receding. It is feared that the flood at Woodhaugh was due to the breaking of the reservoir, about four or five miles distant. Dunediu, December 25. Residents on the flat in Woodhaugh and the North-East Valley had a most alarming experience yesterday afternoon. At first it was surmised that the reservoir had burst, but it is now considered that the flood is due to the bursting of a waterspout on the hill between Leith Valley and Mount Cargill. At 2 p.m. the Leith was running about the same as usual, but an hour later water was running down the streets to a depth of three or four feet like a mill race. The rush of waters was so sudden that the residents had no time to prepare and they had to make a hurried exit from their houses. In some cases the women had to be rescued in traps. So far as is known at present three lufrses were drowned, A mail cart was washed away and. badly smashed, but the horse was rescued. Tons of new potatoes, cabbages, and trees were washed away, and in the lower parts of the Botanical Gardens the flowers are buried in mud. A visit to the scene, to-day revealed a deplorable state of affairs. In many houses the water lias been up to a level higher than the beds, 'and there are deposits of mud. This must mean a heavy loss as a result of damage to carpets, curtains, blankets, etc. For some hours the citizens in the localities concerned had a, very anxious time, and it was not till 7 or 8 p.m. that the waters receded sufficiently to warrant the belief that the danger was past. Several people are not yet aware of the loss they have suffered as they are away for the holidays.