FLOODS EN QUEENSLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3333, 30 January 1918, Page 36

FLOODS EN QUEENSLAND.

SERIOUS LOSS OF LIFE. FEARED. DISASTER AT MACKAY. [By Cable.) A cyclone was experienced in Northern Queensland last week. All the rivers m Central Queensland rose. Mackay and Rockhampton are isolated, and traffic is suspended. Anxiety is felt for the fate of many settlers, and boats have been despatched. . A boat crossing the Fitzroy River (on which Rockhampton stands) capsized, and nine of the occupants were drowned. A message has been received stating that part of Mackay is submerged, and relief is urgently needed. No details of damage havo been received, but it is feared that heavy losses are inevitable. A wireless message from the harbourmaster at Mackay said: "Disaster has overtaken the town, which was struck by a cyclone, a. tidal wave, and a flood. Fourteen bodies have' been recovered. The bridge over the Pioneer River has been wrecked. Hundreds are homeless. All the wharves and sugar stores have collapsed, and two small steamers were sunk. The town is on rations, there being enough food for only 10 days." A relief vessel has been despatched. Definite news from isolated Mackay is anxiously waited. It is now certain that the town received the full force of the cyclone. The lighthouse at Flat Top was demolished. Practically all trains have stopped running owing ! to washaways. The full force of the storm was felt at Rockhampton, where it did great damage, and the town is completely isolated, the flood waters being some inches above the previous record, and still rising. One woman, two children, and three men have been drowned. The disturbance is now travelling west, and it is feared that Clermont will again be flooded. All coastal shipping, is sheltering. News from the flooded area is very scrappy. There appears to be no improvement in the situation. Further news from Mackay states that fcke town is wholly submerged. Dozens of lives have been lost. Three small steamers are ashore. It is feared that Bowen has shared the same fate as Mackay. as no news has been received since Saturday. All the towns north of Rockhampton ai - c isolated. It is believed that the township of Marlborough has been practicaly wiped Out. The latest news received from Mackay stated that the town was in ruins. There was no gas or water supply, and the town was under police control. Heavy rain was still falling. The master of the steamer Arawatta reports that he remained in the vicinity of Mackay, but he saw no sign of the town — only a vast sheet of water. It is feared that a calamity of enormous maenifcude has befallen Mackay, with appalling*loss of life. All efforts to reach Mackay and the isolated district have so far proved futile. It is understood that Bowcn missed the cyclone, but traffic is interrupted by floods, bridges having been washed away. The telegraphic dislocation continues, and the Clencurry district is now isolated. The Federal Government has donated ;GSCGO for relief purposes.

Mackay, situated on tho south bank of tho Pioneer River, is about 25 miles from Brisbane, and has a population of about 6000 people. Tho town was named after Captain James Mackay, who led a party organised in New England in the early part of 1860 for the discovery" of new. grazing land. The harbour, owing to the silt from the river, has been very expensive, and considerable sums were expended in special harbour works to overcome the bar at the entrance. In 1887 a new iron lattice bridge was built across tho river at a cost of £30,000, connecting the town with its suburbs on the northern bank. The bridge was 471 yards in length, arid this, with tho

older wooden bridge, which was rather longer, was a feature of the town. Coal was discovered in the vicinity of Mackay, and this greatly assisted the sugar industry, which dates back to 1868, when the first sugar mill was erected. Practically all the mills are on the south bank of the river. Agricultural and pastoral pursuits also' contribute considerably to Maclean's wealth. Iho population of the town in 1887 was 4106. and this had risen to 5157 in 1901 and to 6135 in 1911, when the census was taken. A short railway line runs to the interior along the Pioneer River from .Mackay, but though the connection with Townsville and Rockhampton has been authorised, there is still about 100 miles of line to bo built before Mackay is placed in railway communication with the south.