SEVERE FLOOD DAMAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26772, 15 May 1948, Page 8

SEVERE FLOOD DAMAGE

Heavy Rain in Gisborne District STOCK AND PROPERTY LOSSES P.A. GISBORNE, May 14. Exceptionally heavy rain driven far inland by a raging gale during the past 48 hours produced conditions almost unparalleled in Gisborne’s flood history to-day when the Waipaoa River broke its banks at points along the lower reaches and inundated a considerable portion of the lands behind the town. All the district rivers and streams are running well over their banks and stormwater has'covered a large area in those parts of the flats which were not invaded by the Waipaoa River overflow. Highways out of/ the district, except to the coast, were blocked this morning at points within five miles of Gisborne, and the telephone circuits were so seriously damaged that com-, munication with even nearby country centres was almost impossible this morning. Conditions on the Gisborne flat lands reached their worst about mid-day when the peak of the flood, which passed Te Karaka about 8.30 a.m., reached the Waerengaahika area and piled up over the stop-banks to extend considerably the area under water.

In the afternoon continuous sheets of water stretched across the flats from the neighbourhood of Makaraka Cemetery t'o Munutuke with the rising ground completely isolated and the main highways blocked to almost all forms of traffic for the first time in many years.

The flood waters encroached into the Te Hapara area, houses adjacent to the highway between the road and the normal bed of the Taruheru River standing a foot and more deep iri comparatively still water, and land in that vicinity flooded deeply. The overflow from Waipaoa had flowed into the Taruheru River bed, blocking practically all traffic. In the lower-lying land in the neighbourhood the water., was well over five feet, and one family evacuated from this area had left their home with 18 inches of water running through it, although the house itself is blocked up four feet above ground level. This morning the aerodrome was serviceable, but by mid-day it was a sheet of water inches deep, and may not be open till Monday. Many settlers in various parts of the district were rescued by boats, but losses of stock are reported to be heavy. With water lying on the railway line between Muriwai and Matawhero, the railcar, was unable to get through to Gisborne to-day, and turned back to Wairoa. After turning back from Muriwai, the railcar was reported to have been stopped between Muriwai and the beach loop by slips. The railway line will not be clear for two days. A young man, thought to belong to the Hawke’s Bay district, was drowned at Whatautau this morning when endeavouring to cross the flooded stream. He was Russell Willis, aged 22, employed by the East Coast Commission. Accompanied by another young man working on the same station, Willis was swept away, but his companion managed to struggle ashore. The spectacular rescue of a marooned family, Mr J. J. Fletcher, his wife and child, who spent all night on top of their home at Puha, was effected late this'morning by a Maori. Mr Dave Tautau. With a light line attached to his waist, he swam 60 yards through the swirling currents and pulled over a makeshift raft on which the family and their rescuer were hauled back to safety. The flood at its peak was 31 feet above normal level and five feet higher than in the 1944 inundation. The severest damage in Gisborne during the storm of the past two days was done to a three-roomed house in Andrews street, Te Hoparo, owned by Mr Frank Green. At ,6.30 this morning almost a hurricane on a narrow front swept along Andrews street, blew over one house, shifted another, and took sheets of iron and tiles off other roofs. Mr Green’s house, buju only six months ago, was lifted, complete with concrete piles, and finished on its side in the next door section, about 30 yards away. The occupants had almost a miraculous escape. Mrs Green and her two children were alone in the house. A heavy wardrobe capsized across Mrs Green’s bed. After struggling out from under the wardrobe and climbing over the debris, Mrs Green found her four-vear-old daughter wandering round outside the house. The small child’s back bore many scratches, and apparently she had been thrown through the window. A small boy sleeping in the same room was still in bed in what was left of the house. He was almost smothered in blankets.

ment flood relief fund for Gisborne. Mr Coleman is expected in Gisborne on- Monday, and has promised his as sistance.

A fresh crisis in the spill-over of the Waikanae Creek in Gisborne, separating Victoria township, a suburb running along the foreshore, from the town proper, \ developed this evening when the waters swamped both the Grey street and Stanley road bridges and began spreading rapidly on both sides of the two structures, threatening to maroon many homes. The swift rise of the water’s expansion towards the beach and the possibility of a dangerous rise in depth at high tide late to-night prompted the Borough Council authorities to switch all municipal buses to the evacuation of families to the town side of the stream The buses had to use a circuitous route over the railway bridge to the junction of Grey street to pick up evacuees. This route, however, was threatened about 8 o’clock when the bridge, the surface of which was a swirling mass of water, showed signs of collapsing. One of the approaches was scoured out to a width of four feet, threatening to isolate trucks and buses. In final trips desperate measures to bridge the gap with heavy timbers succeeded, enabling the vehicles to reach the town side with difficulty. ' The evacuation of Victoria township was followed by scenes reminiscent of a casualty clearing station as radio calls for the accommodation of refugees were swiftly followed by hundreds of telephoned offers to lodge the unfortunate victims, who were first transferred to the Salvation Army Hall. At this time the flood surge was hip deep on men wading through the lowest-lying areas. The evacuation was directed by the Mayor, Mr N. H. Bull, who later 1 said that all who wished had been moved to the town side. The people had responded magnificently by offering accommodation. Many others remaining intended to spend the night in a wool store. As far out as Matawhero, five miles distant, the countryside is under two feet of water and is impassable. “.Conditions are very bad down 'here,” said the station master, Mr Crawford, who lives in Victoria township. “As I am speaking, the water is lapping the floor.” A railcar from the south which reached Muriwai, 14 miles out, this afternoon was forced to turn back, but was trapped by slips between Muriwai and the beach loop. A special train was sent from Wairoa, and the railcar passengers walked over the slips and were taken back to Wairoa and Nuhaka, where they were accommodated for the night. All the Railway Department telephone lines are out of commission and a temporary service is being maintained through the Post and Telegraph Department, which is giving priority. The Railways Department thinks it is unlikely that the slips on the south line can be cleared before Sunday, and that the Motuhora line, on which there are extensive slips, will be out of commission for four days. When a lightning bolt hit a Makaraka house early this morning, Mr G. Carlin and his wife narrowly escaped death. The lightning splintered a tree in the garden, entered the room in which Mr Carlin and his wife were sleeping, tore away the curtain and deposited it up a double chimney at the rear of the house which was lifted bodily out of the house. A large number of bricks were left lying on the roof, and electric light wires both inside and out were left in a tangled mess. '

After inspecting the damage caused by the wind and flood, the Mayor, Mr ,N. H. Bull, announced that he was communicating with the member for the district, Mr D. W. Coleman, requesting him to undertake all steps necessary for establishing a Govern-