WATERS RECEDING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26773, 17 May 1948, Page 6

WATERS RECEDING

POVERTY BAY FLOODS HEAVY STOCK LOSSES RELIEF MEASURES STARTED P.A. GISBORNE, May 16. The recession of the main body of the flood waters, the worst inundation for 10 years, revealed a picture of the utmost desolation in many parts of the Gisborne flats. Vast tracts, however, are still covered by siltladen water from the Waipaoa River overflow, and broken fences, drowned stock, and sodden crops show a small part of what must be a terrific loss. Farmers and their families plodded disconsolately knee-deep through slushy fields in which live stock wandered listlessly in a hopeless search for pasture in the corners of the paddocks which escaped inundation. On Friday three-fifths of the flats were covered by the floods, and settlers were forced to leave their homes, with the furniture piled on tables and shelves. Desperate efforts to move stock from the swift-spreading surge left farmers exhausted and fatalistic. The lands worst affected were Makauri, Repongaere, Waerengaahika. and Matawhero. Silt and water still cover large parts of those districts, and the inundation is likely to continue for some time, as the drainage there is poor. The Makaraka racecourse is mainly under water, and the prospects of racing there next Saturday seem poor. Emergency Depots Set Up Comprehensive measures for the immediate relief of flood-stricken settlers were launched to-day by the Mayor's committee in conjunction with radio station 2ZM, which performed a magnificent job in conducting appeals for friends and the collection and distribution of food, clothing and fuel from the Salvation Army barracks. With the recession of the flood waters from large areas, gangs of house clearing volunteers and stock carcass collectors traversed the country, while other groups carried out the distribution of the food, clothing and bedding supplies which poured into the central depots. Sub-depots were established to-day in the flood areas with emergency clothing supplies for needy families.

The Mayor, Mr N. H. Bull, received a telegram from the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, stating that the flood sufferers will be most sympathetically dealt with. Mr Langbein, engineer-in-chief, a Treasury official and officers of the Agriculture Department left Wellington to-day with Mr D. W. Coleman, the member of. Parliament for Gisborne, to make a flood survey. The borough water, supply pipeline, which was broken in three places—at two river bridges and one road bridge —about 18 miles from the town, is not expected to be repaired before tomorrow. Slips which blocked the railway between the beach loop and Muriwai were cleared to-day, but the line from Muriwai to Gisborne is still under water and scoured at the bridge approaches. It is believed that a through rail service will not be restored till Wednesday and the aerodrome, which is still unserviceable as a result of flooding and silt, is unlikely to be clear for traffic until Wednesday. The south road and coast roads are open, but the north route is still blocked. As a result of the flooding and the sodden state of the wallboard structures in the transit camp, families are •to be evacuated to-morrow to private homes in the town, probably for a fortnight. Over £1330 was raised locally last night and to-day as a result of a radio appeal for flood relief funds. Missing since he entered the bush on Tahunga station on a pig-hunting expedition on Wednesday afternoon, Edward Saunders, aged 32, married, of Matawhero, was rescued this morning from an island on which he had been marooned throughout the floods. A big party of police and station and county employees had scoured the wild scrub country in torrential rain for days since his companion reported his disappearance on Thursday morning. The New Zealand Red Cross Society has sent an initial £2OO for the relief of sufferers in the Poverty Bay floods. The money comes from the Red Cross Disasters Relief Fund. Freezing Works Overwhelmed The losses of stock in the flooded flats still present a confused picture, and experts from the Department of Agriculture to-day were not prepared to hazard a guess about the toll. It is obvious, however, from the day’s collection of carcasses of sheep and cattle from the Matawhero, Makauri and Bushmere districts for boiling down that the toll runs into thousands of head. It is conservatively estimated by freezing works officials that the losses of sheep and lambs alone run into between 10,000 and 12,000 head, with 500 or more head of cattle and a similar number of pigs.