HEAVY DAMAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22256, 8 May 1934, Page 8

HEAVY DAMAGE

BANKS PENINSULA FLOOD LITTLE RIVER ISOLATED TOWNSHIP IN STATE OF RUIN (Pe* United Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, May 7. By road Little River and the whole of the Banks Peninsula district is still isolated. Two service cars reached Little River to-day. hut soon after their arrival ,the level of Lake Forsyth rose again, and the road became once more impassable. The train made slow progress to Little River from Christchurch to-day, but no train will reach the Little River station for some time, a* a slip of at least 1000 yards of boulders, shingle, and clay covers the railway line for" 60 yards near the station. The south-west storm continues with persistent rain but the fall is not nearly so heavy as during the unprecedented storm which caused the floods on Saturday morning. The position of the township, however, is still precarious. One of the factors which mitigated the severity of the flood was the low level of the lake, but now, owing to the heavy discharge of flood waters into the lake, it is higher than it has ever been in living memory. A more severe rain would certainly create a position of extreme gravity. Residents are now, however, of the opinion that the township may escape such a disaster EXTENT OF DAMAGE Generally, the damage in the Little River, Kaituna, Wainui, and neighbouring districts is greater than was indicated by the first reports. Numerous small bridges have been washed away; slips have blocked the roadways; fields and even gardens and houses are littered with yellow silt, shingle, boulders, and logs. None of the people who vacated houses at Little River on Saturday occupied them to-night owing to the danger which would ■ threaten with a further rise of the lake. RESIDENTS’ ORDEAL From the accounts of the sudden onset of the flood, it is apparent that several residents had almost miraculous escapes. The flood waters poured over the residence of the stud groom of the_ Kinloch Estate, and he and his family were rescued with great difficulty. Actually, they were saved by boulders which piled up against the house and on the roof and held the house down against the pressure of the rushing waters. The water waa several feet high and was rising rapidly when the family was rescued. At the Kinloch homestead a creek literally burst through the billiard room and , flooded' the whole house, which was speedily abandoned. Boulders heaped to a height of 3ft or 4ft bury the drives and gardens of two homesteads in the Okuti Valley. In Little River a slip which threatened to envelop a house lost momentum suddenly as it reached the brick steps at the back door of Mr C. Ferguson’s house. Otherwise it would have carried the house down the side of the hill. A STRICKEN COUNTRYSIDE Swollen streams are still down the hillsides, and water still lies in the main street. The whole township is in an indescribable condition of ruin. All kinds of flood litter are lying everywhere. , ' Streams have changed, their courses, bridges have gone, and 3ft of, water covers the main road. Slip* are still coming down on the hillsides, and the whole countryside is sadly scarred by slip s large and small.