ANOTHER FLOOD IN THE N.E. VALLEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3017, 10 January 1912, Page 5

ANOTHER FLOOD IN THE N.E. VALLEY.

NO SERIOUS DAMAGE DONE The heavy and incessant rain of the past few days culminated on Dec. 28 in Lindsay’s Creek overflowing its banks at several points in its course through the Valley and in the flood-waters, combined with those from several roaring hillside torrents, sweeping up side streets and along the main road and bursting through gardens and over doorsteps into dwellings. While up till midnight on the 28th it was not as high as Sunday’s flood, it. was serious enough to do considerable damage and to compel many people to beat a hasty retreat from their dwellings, a performance which was accomplished in a great many instances only by having to wade through one, two, and three feet of water. At 3 o’clock on the afternoon of the 28th, when a Daily Times reporter paid a visit to the Valley as far as Normanby, the water was overflowing the street channels on both sides, and in places tearing over the footpaths. From the slopes of Signal Hill, alongside Clark’s Laundry, there rushed a turbulent stream of water which spread itself over the roadway and raced down the channels and footways on both sides. At the Post Office the water was an inch or two from the doorstep, and in several other places leaped over the tops of culverts unable to carry it. A gang of City Corporation workmen was kept busily at work under Inspector M'Lachlan, and by clearing away accumulated silt and debris to some extent minimised the dangers of rushing water. Rain was falling steadily on the low and high levels, and the volume of water pouring down the Main road was perceptibly increasing in volume. At the same time Lindsay’s Creek was in high flood and rapidly rising. Fed by flood-waters from all sides, the rate at which it was rising was quite alarming. At the foot of Selwyn street and Carr street was its most dangerous point. It was here fed by a mountain torrent which previous to December 24 was represented by a culvert and a narrow cutting, carrying no more water than would flow through a 2in pipe. Sunday’s deluge converted the culvert into something in the nature of a small ravine, at the same time completely cutting off communication by road to houses above it. The amount of silt brought down by this torrent was something considerable, and quite early in the afternoon it had the effect of swelling the water in Lindsay’s Creek to such an extent as to make it overflow into the back yard and up to the doorstep of Mr William Steele’s residence at the foot of Carr street. By clearing the sides of Lindsay’s Creek of the accumulated silt and debris the flood waters were diverted, and danger for the time being averted.

A visit to the North-East Valley later in the evening revealed a decidedly different and quite alarming state of affairs. The rush of water in Lindsay’s Creek had swelled considerably, showing a rise of several feet. Along the Main road the torrents oi water tearing down the sideways were more turbulent and had greatly increased in volume, and many localities which were formerly beyond the reach of the flood waters were now submerged. At the foot of Carr street and Sehvyn street the position had become distinctly jdarming. The creek was leaping over the small protecting walls into the gardens of both Mr Begg’s and Mr Carr's residences. The position was one that demanded the taking of immediate and stringent measures to withhold the surging stream. An army of willing workers cet to work, and erected a fairly high embankment for a distance of a chain or two, hut even this failed to stem tiie tide. The ever-rising rush of waters swept over the banks of Lindsay’s Creek above and below this, point, and started to rise up along Carr and Sehvyn streets in the direction of the Main road. By 10 o’clock

there was a considerable volume of water in these two streets, extending towards the Main road. By 11 o’clock in each street rushing streams, in some places 3ft deep, swept along past houses, inundating gardens and threatening to defy the barricades erected by householders and burst into doorways. While the flood waters did not reach the same level in these localities as on December 24, the position was one full of danger. Down side streets and through back yards torrents of water swept along at a high velocity. Residents at the lower ends of Carr and Selwyn streets found their positions untenable, and wisely left their dwellings for the night for safer quarters. Some unwisely remained until after 11 o’clock, when, viewing the rising waters with a feeling of decided alarm and threatened discomfort, they made a hurried exit. In some instances children and ladies had to be carried from their dwellings to places of safety, the persons performing the operation having to wade through close on 2ft of swiftly rushing water. At 12 o’clock the water in these two streets and at other points was still rising, but the heavy rain showed signs of slackening off, and hopes were entertained that the flood had reached its highest point. At this stage several chains of the Main North-East Valley road were under water, and anxious householders stood at their doorways beating back the oncoming tide with brooms, and improvised barricades. Towards Lindsay’s Creek bridge, on the Main road, the water had deepened perceptibly, and a passage over two or three chains was possible only by wading almost knee-deep through water. Large numbers of residents were thus compelled to reach their homes higher up the valley, while others, apparently for the novelty of the situation and out of curiosity, waded about inspecting and conjecturing. In the meantime the position at the city end of the valley was anything but reassuring. Torrents of water were coursing down the channels, ami for hundreds of yards to the north of the Gardens the Main road was an unbroken sea of water.

So far as could be ascertained no premises were invaded, but ibat such was , the case was due to precautions taken. Residents and shopkeepers were on the alert, and on all hands barricades were to be seen. Up till 12 o’clock the checks to the inflow of the storm water had proved effectual, and the prospects were at that hour that there would be no further trouble, for though there had been a rise in the water level of half an inch in the preceding half-hour, the rain was appreciably lessening, and householders were optimistic enough to conclude th it they might retire for the night in saietfy. j So far as the Water of Leith is concerned, nothing need be said. The stream throughout the evening and night ran bank high, but did not carry at any time such a volume of water as might cause i any alarm to those living in its vicinity.

The civic authorities were fully alive to the potentialities of the phenomenal rainfall, and very early in the evening the Mayor of the city (Mr W. Burnett) and Mr Slinger (engineer of the Drainage Board) were in the Valley and organised a system for coping, as far as possible, with the flood-waters. The City Corporation and the Drainage Board each put on a gang to work throughout the night, and so far as the local bodies were concerned every endeavour was made to minimise the damage that the flood might cause. As a further endeavour in this respect, his Worship the Mayor gave instructions to the converter station to have the North-East Valley electric lights kept burning until dawn. The occurrence of a sharp shock of earthquake shortly before 10 o’clock in the evening added further to the alarms of residents in the flooded area, and gave rise to fears of some disastrous happening before the night had passed.