HEAVY RAINFALL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11323, 17 January 1899, Page 6

HEAVY RAINFALL.

FLOODS AT THE TAIERI.

CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE DONE.

There was an exceptionally heavy fall of rain in the city and neighbourhood yesterday. Rain set in on Sunday evening, but fell in moderate showers, or light drizzle only until Monday morning, when it came down steadily/and'frbm about 7 o?olock until nearly 1 it rained very heavily, at times falling in sheets. In the low-lying parts .of South Duriedin and St. 'Kilda a good deal of water lodged, and the surface drains were running' full; but there was nothing in the riaturo of a flood, and no damage jvas occasioned. : /

I At the north end of the city the effects of the rainfall were more startling. The Wate,r of Leith began to rise soon after 9 o'cloct, and continued rising rapidly until between 12 and 1 o'clock, it had risen fully. 6ft, and stood half-way up the long concrete retaining .wall that has iboeri constructed on the University property. The wall withstood the test, and gave no sign of weakness. At about .11 o'clock the water in the upper Leith-had risen so much that it flooded the Otago Paper Mills.building, and work had to be stopped. Some small bridge.and part of the old saw mill appear to have been carried away, as a great deal, of timber : was swept down the Leith, and also some fairly large trees. A portion of the fence round one of the,; professor's houses was- washed away, and several of the willow trees near the Gardens were' uprooted and fell across the stream. Beyond this no damage appears to have been done,. though the water is said to have reached a higher level than.it has done at' any time previously during-the past 25 years. The rapid manner in which the Leith subsided was very remarkable.': -.The-, stream fell fully Sft'in little over an hour, and then continued to;subside steadily until nightfall. '•; No damage was caused to the'railway by the rainfall. ~ : ■! JSTORTHJ3AST VALLEY. ;- .The effects .of -the heavy .rain were felt very- considerably in the North-East Valley. Lindsay's Creek started to rise about 8 o'clock in the morning till/between 12 and 1 o'clock, when it was nearly as high as it has everbeen seen during-any-previous flood. At Kelvin Grove it spread ;over its-banks, and,iwhen.it was,a foot deep in the garden attached "to the house of Mr Mellick, tram driver, and also the adjoining house, it was ■ deemed /expedient to . remdv.e.. the inmatesMrs Mellick and the family had to be carried put.', • The creek cut 12ft into,, the bank near •Mr" Rhodes's steam laundry,- and ate away behind the abutments of the bridge on Watt s road to such an extent that the structure was deemed unsafe, and •was-.barricaded off/Watt's road Buffered V considerable amount ofdamage. ■ The water' also entered Mr George Calder's stables,: the horses standing in'it hoof-deep. 'The top of the retaining wall'alongside the road was just reached,, and had the creek'risen much higher this part! of t"he road would soon have been in the same state:asiwas the road fcnvor down.near Lind-say's:-bridge and the Gardens—namely, impassable; 'Hope road and isixth avenue in Selwyn were under waterrbut happily the inmates* or the houses escaped. A little below Mr Begg's factory' and along Selwyn r'oacTtHe w'atei' found ingress to this Chinamen's gardens,1 and wrought;havoc amongst the cultivated,fields. At one,:;time a Chinaman was: to be: seen waist "deer}, getting his horse' • put of•:' his ' stables/and 'baskets; cases, and ''debris',' with other 'of ■ his possessions, floated away into an adjoining field where turnips' had been planted. ; Both the turnips arid; soil, -however, have now disappeared. At "Lindsay's bridge the road .was covered from path' to path, ancl^Mr. DhH. Fian s place,; which, stands alongside the creek, :at one time;: appeared to be in .danger of beilig carried away. His house wW surrounded, arid the:only/way in which he "found,himself able to get out of-the place was* on the bfck-of his' horse, : The;three'.or foiir'months' work; of a ;gardener was. completely, demolish«Lv- r -The -bridge' in: Leith • walk has. a'so been?rendered unsafe, -and^was barricaded off. At the; Gardens: tHe roadway, was submerged, arid people arriving Jby the cars for their lunch were, as. can well be iriiagined, put to a great deal of incori^enienc©. The water enteredCouper's shop arid reached the: doorstep of Allen's : shop,"'but no damage is v, reported. ;, One"; satisfactory feature of the .. trouble :. : wasV\that,( the , water; - yery speedily disappeared.; ; ; The'; creek fell rapidly, and in the afternoon: the str,eete, with the ex /lcep'tiori.;\«tf...Mbum^ati6n i S'.'6'F..^t / !iad,debri8 ?1 had Attained itheir wonted appearance.'' ■' ',''

DAMAGE TO CROPS AT EAST; TAJERL .- '-} The rainfalLextended4b the Taieri; and at> .pears tohayebeeii .'quite as hea-i'yat the Jiead iof the'Silyerstreamas it was'iri the city. The i Taieri River had not been ;inuch; affected tip I till last evening/but the Silyerstreara overl;floweditsbanks,.and : did considerable damage; toithe .crops. So-far .asYthe..SUverstream is '. conperned; the flood; was \he. heaviest in; harvest' time ,for. soiiie seven •years. It'was impossibleitp ascertain the extent i>f; the damage last evening; .but-many paddocks of.firiel6ok- Ting crops appeared to have been laid, arid the | grain -twisted1 and knotted by the swirling : water;' /;A bank which ha^-,' been: recently 'erected by Mr'A: Smith- has been- washed away*;; On Mr'W.Blackie's farm some Italian ryegraes, which had been/but, .was to be seen floating about in various^directions, and it is. feared on other farms the damage may: be even-greater. A man named William Collie1 Had'a rather unpleasant experience on the Riccarton road. The ■ roadway ; was, under ■yvater, and the horse he was riding went to one side' of. it,' and got out' of -its depth. . Fortunately, the girth of;the saddle broke,.and Mr Collie escaped: with" a -bad ducking, but j ininuß his.saddle./.. ;.:..!, ' 1 i.- TTOE EALMERSTON, DISTRICT. 1 durPalinerston correspondent supplied the following' information ...last ■ evening:—The weather has changed with a vengeance. Light rain, commenced to" fall^last-'eyening,. which culminated .this morning in ,k- steady downpour.' At times it was very, heavy, and was accompanied with a strong-wind from the north-east^ ' 'From present appearances we are'in for a-fldod. The rain will prove very . disastrous to the farmers and others. In. all directions'the crops have been to a very'great extent flat, and unless they rise again f-whioh. is rather problematical—a serious loss will enstfe instead of the bountiful harvest promised a few days^ago. Should the weather soon clear, and we are favoured with a few' hot -days, matters' may not turn; out so serious as" they at.pres'eritVappeai.' At the time of writing appearances point to a continuation; and a wet night. The creeks and river are slowly rising. ; ./ : ■

' The Telegraph department kindly supplied the foilowing:—Cromwell reports that heavy raiii feir on Saturday nigHt, and the river rose four or five feet. There has been no rain since, and the river, has now fallen to almost, normal level. ... - ;