THE WEATHER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2862, 20 January 1909, Page 27

THE WEATHER.

FLOODS ON THE WEST COAST. BOADS AND BRIDGES SWEPT AWAY. GALES, RAIN, AND SNOW. BOTH ISLANDS AFFECTED. SUNSHINE BADLY NEEDED. REEFTON, January 15. This district has been visited by a storm unequalled for years. Two tUjn' steady rain culminated" last evening in a terrific .downpour. In two hours the creeks, already greatly swollen, became roaring torrents, sweeping down trees an-d bridges »nd washing away everything mo v able. The damage done, it is calculated, will be enormous. The Inangahua county will be a very heavy sufferer. Two piers erected in oonnection with the extension of waterworks, and now in process of construction, were washed away, with derrick, Topes, and appliances. A large number of concrete pipes constructed on the banks of the Inangahua were washed away or destroyed. Bosstowß had its road washed clean away, isolating the electric works, which are only supplied with coal by a passage made through private gardens. All road communications are cut off. The damage done in Murray Creek is tremendous. A big block of trets occurred, damming up the water till a boom was made, when it burst, carrying all before it. The main traffic bridge over the Inangahua River was endangered by a mass of floating trees, but it etood the strain, though greatly shaken. Great slips occurred all over the district. Communication between Blacks Point and Crushineton is cut off. Reporis are still coming to hand of fresh damage and disaster. At Waitahu, where two branches of the river reunite, j the flood is the biggest on record. Acres i of land are flooded, while a number of ! sheep belonging to the settlers have been drowned. The potato crops have been ruined in some places. Reports are still coming to hand of the damage done. It is stated from Blacks Point that the volume of water in the river has been ' rarely, if ever, eclipsed. The boom bursting in Murray, Creek carried the debris of mines, trees, etc., right before- it, ploughing, mining tailings, and cawing a great stench from the disturbed cyanide in the waste 6ands. The roads and bridges at -the Energetic, mine were undermined and rendered unsafe for traffic. The flood did some good by considerably rhunH|ging a .fire which had existed in Knight's coal mine workings for two years or so. Not a single trace ■*■ of the recentlycoitstructed aqueduct piers ie left, and large- numbers of concrete pipes were swept clean away. The engineer and others worked hard to save them, but the river rose hi 10 minutes over the level of the works, driving them back. Opposite Reef ton, at Rosstown, the river simply sluiced away strips of lacd and road* and its banks are now up to withing the residents' garden gates. All trace of the road has vanished. The wond«r is that the traffic bridge stood the weight of tile flood as it did. Below the bridge aU the protective groins, protecting the lower lying lands from the rush of water, were simply swept away, and no trafce of them is left. These were strongly let-in giroins, made of huge boulders, covered with a network of wire. The left braaich of the Inangahua River rose even won-e than the right, but not much damage was done except a.t O'Don- | nells coal mine aerial tramway, which was utterly wrecked, entailing considerable loss on the unfortunate proprietor, and rendering the mine useless possibly for two months. • Below, the river ruined a large area of low-lying lands, spoiling potato patches, A number of sheep were drowned at Lawry's, a settler's place. It is said to be the bipvest flood known for many years. Further down the flood was confined to the channel, and not much damage is reported. The Inangahua County Council- is the chief sufferer. It lost all the work spent ou the extension of its waterworks scheme, j in putting in piers, and also a derrick and plant. From every side comes news of landslips. One between Orushington and Blacks Point is two or three chains in -length, and other heavy slips are repoit-wl. j A large quantity of con-'.-reic- work wa? ; rendered -usek-ss, and culverts in the j immediate viaiMty Merc •washed away. I One can as jet make no estimate of t!u- ' damage. i January 16. It is feared that great d<triin;re has bee , done to the Maruia road as a result oi \ the flood. Provisions urgently waii'fti h ' ; the mm 'at work in the liigher vail-?;- of ; the Inanghua had to he earned over j slips from cart to cart, then packed or. : horses. It ifi not known whether they $$ct < through, and it is feared not. Further inspection shows that the woik of rendering the northern bank of th^ river safe at Rosstown will be very expensive, but it must be undertaken at once, as every fresh does more damage still, and the bank is washing away fast. The damage done by the flood was confined mostly to the valley of the Inangahua, from Reefton to 12 miles up Maruia road. The damage to country works alone is estimated at £2000. At one place on the right hand branch of the river, a bridge was tilted up and left high and dry, the river flowing in a new channel. Other bridges have been washed away, leaving no trace of piers or approaches. It is , estimated that it will cost £500 to repair j the damage at Rosstown alone. •