FLOODS IN N.S. WALES

Otago Witness, Issue 2915, 26 January 1910, Page 19

FLOODS IN N.S. WALES

A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. REPORTED LOSS OF SIX LIVES. MANY SETTLERS DESTITUTE. GOVERNMENT ASSISTING THE SUFFERERS TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS. SETTLERS HALF STARVED. SYDNEY, January IS. Though the floods are receding, wide | areas are still under water and many outi lying places cut off from communication. I The losses in stock are very heavy. It is estimated that round Gunnedah : 20,000 sheep perished, besides many cattle. | The stench from the decaying animals forms a menace to the health of the town. J Hundreds of other cattle, after swimming l for miles, managed to escape. The people on returning to their homes j after two days' absence found them in a I terrible state. They were feet deep in I filth, and in some cases blocked with dead I animals. Amongst other heavy losers are the i North-western Grain Company, 20,000 j bags of wheat being ruined. The Government is affording help to • the distressed families in the flooded districts. As a result of the damage by water to the works and electric plant at Tamworth, j the town will be without light and water for some days. The flood at Bf.rraba is the highest recorded for 4S years. The flooding of the mines at Inverell and Bingha has caused serious damage. Several mining dredges have been sunk. The waters from the higher river have reached Walgett, and a flood is expected. Communication with Moree and Wee i Waa is still interrupted. No further details are reported of the i drowning disaster. January 19. Belated reports are coming to hand from the flooded districts. These show that in many cases the floods were higher than was ever previously known. The | devastation is widespread and greater j than was first anticipated. I Later reports of the Wee Waa- fatality ! state that besides the four names already | mentioned a policeman and two other men were also in the capsized boat and j drowned. Communication with Wee Waa I is not yet established!. Two relief boats, which left Gunnedah. for Wee Waa, have reached Boggabri. The journey is 40 miles long. The whole course of the river is a scene of devastation. Dead sheep and other animals are floating or piled everywhere. Here and there patches of high land standing out of the flood are crowded with still living animals. Dozens . of homes, half submerged and' abandoned are dotted on both sides of the river. The boats still have a long and perilous journey to make before reaching Wee Waa, where the worst is now over. The water as now falling, but it will be some days before it is sufficiently cleared to ascertain the full extent of the damage. Many settlers' homesteads are still isolated. In the area between Narrabri

and Boggabri alone it is calculated that 100,000 "sheep perished. At the former place the people took refuge in the twostorey buildings, the water invading all the business places. Some spent two days on the roofs. There is but a short supply of food, and numerous narrow escapes are reported. Many of the settlers lest everything, and a large number of people are destitute. The Government is providing efficient relief whore necessary. It is now reported that two men named Yoemans and Reynolds lost their lives at Moree. Fifty persons have been provided with temporary homes and relief at Tamworth. Large quantities of debris from the swollen rivers are collecting in Newcastle Harbour. The reason for the magnitude of the flood was that rain fell uniformly heavy over the entire watershed, and the rivers rose simultaneously. The streets and house* in the towns where the floods have receded are in a terrible state with slush, debris, and dead animals. Gangs of men are clearing them. The Named and Barwon Rivers are rising rapidly, and there are still enormous bodies of water coining down. Walgett and other towns along the lower reaches are preparing for big floods, and stock and property aire being removed to places of safety. The extent of the damage to the railways may be gathered from the fact that 40 "washouts occurred between Inverell and Delungra, a distance of 25 miles. Many of the smaller bridges collapsed, but none of the larger ones. Big gangs are engaged in repairing the lines. Amongst many sensational experiences, a blackfeilow was rescued after Heating for two days on a log. A widow and her four children we.ro rescued when the water was up to the woman's armpits as she stood on a table. At Gunnedah Alderman Brooker found a man sitting on a piano. The flood waters had shut him in, and Ire spent the night on top of the piano—-the only place of safety. A man named' Huxley was drowned at Bin gar a. January 20. The executive of the Public Disaster Relief Fund is appealing for assistance for the sufferers from the floods. As the waters subside outside settlers are arriving in the townships in a halfstarved condition, after spending a couple of days in trees and on roofs. Not the least uncomfortable part of their experiences was having to share their resting-places with hosts of snakes, spiders, and other creeping things. A man at Boggabri hauled his wife and family to a tree, where they remained secured by ropes for a day and a night without food. The estimates of losses in that district are as high as £40,000. The patients in the Narrabri Hospital had an uncomfortable time, the water rising to a depth of 4ft in the wards. By means of extemporised raised beds they were made safe, the nurses wading round them up to the waist attending to the sick. At Inverell the floods carried a horse into the fork of a tree, which was subsequently cut down, and the animal walked away uninjured. The last report from Wee Waa is that the water has fallen 4ft. The bodies of the victims in the boating disaster have been recovered. There is much distress among the homeless people, and relief boats are being sent. The postal services in the flooded area are at a standstill. Telegraphic communication is being rapidly restored in the flooded districts. January 21. Moree reports that Mr Stone, manager of the Keytah Station, was drowned while rescuing some sheep. A youth was drowned at Tareelaroi. There is enormous damage in the Collaremebri district. Some stations have lost practically all their stock. The flood waters are expected to reach Brewarma and Walgett. Railway communication is almost restored in the flooded districts, and the water is fast receding in the higher country, but is just commencing at Walgett. where it is hoped that the precautions taken will minimise the loss of property.

January 22. j?lcocl waters are expected in the Darling River. A heavy volume of water ia coming down, partly from Queensland, and further rains are predicted over tha flooded areas. The Walgett Council is constructing an embankment round tha town. January 23. A loss of 10,000 sheep is reported from the Narrahri district. January 24. Walgett presents the appearance of a fortified town. The streets are being ploughed up to furnish material for embankments, and the water is now racing all round the town, and is rising rapidly. A formidable volume of water is within a day’s journey of the town, and despite the precautions already taken there must be a heavy loss. All live stock has been removed to what little high land there is about the place. Walgett is being assailed by two flooded rivers—the Barwon and Namoi. In all paid experience only one river lias been flooded at a time. The farmers’ houses round Wee Waa have sft or 6ft of water in them. Not s' single hoof is left on many of the farms..