THE WESTMINSTER FLOOD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20311, 20 January 1928, Page 7

THE WESTMINSTER FLOOD

INQUEST ON THE VICTIMS. SAFETY OF THE EMBANKMENT. (Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, January 18. At the inquest on the 10 Westminster flood victims, the Coroner, giving his verdict, said that he was not satisfied that sufficient attention had been paid to the safety of certain sections of the Empbankment. A policeman gave evidence of the water often jetting from the walls in high tides. He did not report it because he did not think it dangerous. The Town Clerk of Westminster said that there was a breach of 165 ft in Grosvenor road, and two breaches in the Duke of Westminster’s property. The council controlled neither. The County Council’s chief engineer gave evidence that the river front was regularly surveyed and showed no instability. The tide at Westminster on January 7 was at least Ift above th e century’s record, and was unexpectedly phenomenal. Water jets had never occurrred sufficiently to cause alarm where the walls were now collapsed. The Coroner emphasised that the disaster was due to unprecedented conditions. The water heaped at the mouth of the Thames simultaneous with an unusual tide and an enormous amount of water was descending, therefore it would be unreasonable to blame anybody.—Sydney Sun Cable.