AFTER THE STORM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26750, 20 April 1948, Page 4

AFTER THE STORM

EXTENSIVE FLOOD DAMAGE BAY OF PLENTY AREA / P.A. . AUCKLAND, Apl. 19. Littie business was done in Whakatane to-day as shopkeepers and County Council employees worked to repair the ravages of the violent electrical week-end storm that swept the Bay of Plenty and caused the worst flood in Whakatane since 1916. From 11 o’clock on Saturay night, when the centre of the storm suddenly reached the town after a windless and showery evening, there were five hours of torrential rain, great rolls of thunder and brilliant sheet and forked lightening. The flood damage at Opotiki, where 7.28 in of rain fell in the 24 hours to 9 o'clock yesterday, is not expected to be great because previous floods had put the residents on guard. The flooding was mostly in the main street, and shopkeepers had kept their goods well above flood level. At Waiawa. seven miles from Opotiki, the centre of the valley was heavily flooded, holding up traffic throughout yesterday. “ The sea and the floods were one,” a Waihi Beach resident said to-day. The beach was strewn with all kinds of wreckage yesterday, including heavy planks.