BRIGHTER OUTLOOK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22257, 9 May 1934, Page 8

BRIGHTER OUTLOOK

BANKS PENINSULA FLOOD DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT £25,000 (Peb United Press association.)

CHRISTCHURCH, May 8. To-day Little River appears to have escaped the prospect-of another flooding. The rain has eased off, and Lake Forsyth, which rose threateningly last night, has subsided. At the same time the danger has by no means passed. Service cars cannot get through, as there is 12 feet of water on the road near Caton's Bay, but the railway service has been resumed.

The total flood damage on Banks Peninsula is estimated at £25,000, including the cost of new bridges, liew culverts, repairs to roads and fences, and damage to farms which have been stripped of fertile soil. In addition there is the railway damage. Local bodies are faced with a serious problem in restoring communication, and will need to raise a large sum of money promptly. " ' Though the railway service to Little River has been resumed it will be some days before the service is running. more or less to time table. A breakdown train and an extra large gang of men are now ststioned at Little River clearing the line of the tons of debris and putting down a temporary track where necessary. Six feet of silt and stones covered the tracks at-Little'River station, and temporary rails have been laid over this stretch. , ■ ■

" We are faced with a long and costly job," s&id a railway official this morning, when asked to estimate the provable cost of the flood damage to the line. .