MANY BUILDINGS COLLAPSE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26413, 18 March 1947, Page 5

MANY BUILDINGS COLLAPSE

Thames Still In Heavy Flood Eec. 0.20 a.m. LONDON, Mar. 17. The hurricane in Britain blew itself out after causing at least three deaths and injuring many. A man and wife were killed when the gale blew in a roof of a house in St. John’s Wood. The husband’s' body was recovered after 90 minutes’ digging, and the wife’s body 150 minutes’ later. The third death was that of a housewife who was buried by a collapsing roof in a block of flats at Lemington. Her husband was severely injured. Vivid flashes of lightning lit the skies as the wind ripped off the roofs and brought chimney stacks crashing through the houses. Firemen and helpers worked by floodlight to rescue the trapped people. “It was like blitz days,” said one. The wind roared over England from the south-west, lashing to fury the seas around the coast, and inland, swelling the waters of the worst floods in living memory. The wind caused extensive damage in Birmingham. Three persons were dug out of the ruins of one dwelling and taken to hospital. The Air Ministry reported that one gust of wind at Mildenhall reached 98 miles an hour. The floods in the Thames Valley have levelled off, but the wind raised waves, and the river burst its banks at Datchet, below Windsor. A steady rise in the Great Ouse created real danger for the fen country, where disaster is feared if the rain continues. Tugs towing barges with filling for the burst dykes were held up when the height of the water reduced the clearance under the bridges. The National Fire Service is digging among the wreckage of a number of buildings which collapsed in the gale in various parts of London. Eighty-mile-an-hour gusts and widespread damage are reported from Bath.

Many East End Londoners found themselves waterless to-day, and others had to rely on watercarts following the flooding of the water board’s filter beds. Many workers sacrificed their week-end to help relieve the situation, but it will be days before the water can be certified safe to drink.

and salvaging furniture. Fire brigades pumped water from food stores. The road conditions in many parts of Britain are reported to be the worst in memory. All roads in Scotland are still impassable. Windsor, Eton, and Maidenhead are among the Thames Valley towns seriously affected by the flooding along 150 miles of river’s bank, says the Daily Mail. The police have taken to boats, and in some cases had to call in the army with tanks and “ ducks ” (amphibious vehicles) where small boats are useless for rescue work against the strong currents. The Thames Catchment Board has issued a warning that any more rain will increase the seriousness of the situation. The board is unable to take Any further action to relieve the flooding because all sluice gates are already wide open and all the overflow channels. are full.

The Metropolitan Water Board has sent the orovince an SOS for all available water wagons. London’s East End needs 700 to meet the emergency. Tanker convoys are already on the road, some from Yorkshire. Extension of the floods is feared following a night of snow and rain. Milder weather is forecast, and the thaw is reported to be spreading in the north. The floods in some areas, however, have passed their peak, and hundreds of householders spent Sunday clearing the thick mud from the lower rooms