FLOODS AT GREYMOUTH.

Opunake Times, Volume XXI, Issue 751, 27 June 1905, Page 2

FLOODS AT GREYMOUTH.

GEE AT EXCITEMENT. Greymouth, June 24. To-day will be remembered as the occasion of one of the largest floods experienced in Greymouth. It rained incessantly for 86 hours. The town was completely under water. There were .six boats at the wharf; and at one time it looked as if the Komona would go to sea. It was difficult to tell where the river started or the wharf ended. The scene can scarcely be described, for where a few hours- before people met and walked with perfect safety on the asphalt, it bad become a raging stream. Men disappeared for a time in holes made in the road. Bridges were washed away, and railway communication suspended. . Twelve valuable horses grazing on the racecourse were drowned; One farmer lost all his live stock. There were many narrow escapes, but no fatal cases are reported. The flood has been named the “ Premier Flood of 1905.” An old age pensioner, residing on the banks of the Teremakau river, was carried out to sea in his hut. It is reported that the Fern Flat dredge broke away with two men on board, and that the Greenstone dredge broke away with two men on board. The principal streets resembled a river bed, gravel being piled up feet high on the pavement. The railway lines on the wharf were lifted to the middle of the street.

Large holes were scoured out, one being suffioenfc to bury a horse and cart.