FLOODS IN AUCKLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3801, 18 January 1927, Page 22

FLOODS IN AUCKLAND.

ROADS BADLY DAMAGED. COUNTY ENGINEER’S REPORT. AUCKLAND, January 14. Some particulars relating to the damage caused by the recent storms in the Waiternata County were given by Mr G. Jackson, engineer to the county council, who returned from a tour of inspection this morning. “Some of the residents told me that they considered the flood to, be the biggest, since 1882,” said Mr Jackson. “Most of the serious damage was done in the Waitakere ranges and at Muriwai. The Henderson Valley, perhaps, suffered more than any other part, and the big dance hall at Ferndale was floated off its blocks. The road to the ranges at the head of the valley was blocked by extensive slips. Three bridges were lost by the county, and it is estimated it will cost over £4OOO to replace them at a low assessment. One bridge was at Henderson Valley, another at Swanson, which cut bff the main road to Hel@nsville, and the third was the one near the Waitekere station, which gives access to Te Henga and the west coast. The roads in that viciniy were in a shocking state, particularly the road to Te Henga. To”repair these roads it is estimated that the sum of £5OO will have to be spent. Even the county councillors took a hand in the repair work during the worst period of the flood. Mr F. W. Grigg (representative of the Waitakere Riding) and the chairman (Mr G. O’Halloran) , were out with picks and shovels assisting to. clear away the huge piles of earth which had been dislodged on to the roads by storm “The Sunday following Christmas Day was the time when the low-lying parts suffered the most damage,” said Mr Grigg. After the cloud burst the roads in Waitakere and the country round the foot of the hills were a sheet of water. It was impossible to recognise the landscape.”