THE RECENT STORM.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume L, Issue 16618, 23 December 1924, Page 12

THE RECENT STORM.

LANDSLIDE MO YES HOUSES

WELLINGTON, Sunday

The most serious effect; of the storm as far as WeiLiington city was concerned was reserved till the flying hours of the gale and wind, for early on Saturday morning, apparently about 4 o'clock, one of the worst falls recorded came down on the iiutt road 'between Kaiwarra and Ngalhaurangn, completely smothering the loadway over its full width under thousands of tons of thoroughly sodden rock and clay. The inspecting engineer (Mr K E. Luke) was informed of the slip and was on the spot, shortly afterwards, but it was plain that not much could be done by mere shovel work. However, the Corporation's roadmen and quarry workers were mustered and turned to making a narrow passage still open on the extreme edge of the cycle track safe for traffic. A great mass of rock threatened to fan at any moment and had to be cleared away to render the road safe. A rush order was at once sent to the engineer in charge of the Rongotai mixing plant to get a steam navvy on the road without delay, but though the navvy can dig fast enough, it is not a road runner by any means, and it cannot very well' arrive at the slip before Alonday morning. A very big job awaits tt there.

Though the passage way may be widened to reasonable driving width on Monday, the removal of the whole slip will ociiupy clays. Eastbourne, with its steep hillsides and undeveloped country roads, suffered greatly from the storm, and the same applies to Day's Bay and. other bays going north. At Muritai, the southern vxtramity of Eastbourne, a number of houses were flooded on the main road, where anything from three inches to, in one case, two feet, of water was experienced.

The most serious damage occurred in N'ikaiu street, where Mr W. Fryer's house, "occupied by Mrs Law ton anil her two children, was carried down the hill by a big slip. Shortly after 9 o'clock the hillside at the back of the. hetase began to move with a. sullen roar, and Mrs Lawton. andi the children flitted to an adjacent bouse, which offered them a sanctuary. Then the trouble commenced. The slip started to move fast and the house was soon the centre of the trouble —pushed and jolted over the rough. Mils id e, shedding a brick chimney on its way, amidst the roar of the sliding land and th.c< clatter of broken crockery as the goods and chattels in the house were thrown from one side to the other. The. cottage finally turned right round and stopped almost at the foot of the bill. Though the. house stopped, the ruihblo slide continued to run down to .the creek below.

Wellington spent its week-end putting things in order. Quite a number of housefl an-near to suffered severely. One dwelling in Ma.ida Vale road, overlooking Evans' Bay, was seriously undermined and left hanging dangerously uipon a few shaky piles. More trouble followed further down the hill, the weighit of isHding earth and debris carrying away a retaining wall, w'hich crashed' down upon a standing motor lorry, burying and ruining it. Heavy gruelling work during long hours opened the Paetoakarikti Hill t" traffic again on Saturday mnrhintr, half a dozen service cans from the north rottine through in a. bunch shortly lefcre mid-day. This afternoon the road wlnh exceed : n"' , v busy with traffic, which had piled mp from andl to Wellington during the last three or four days.