COAST FLOOD DAMAGE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18975, 27 March 1936, Page 16

COAST FLOOD DAMAGE

ESTIMATED AT £SOOO WAIAPU COUNTY" REPORT Reporting to the recent meeting of the Waiapu County Council, the engineer, Mr. A. K. Gilmour, said that following the floods at the beginning of February, heavy floods were again experienced early this month, causing extensive damage. ' Traffic was held up for two days between Tokomaru Bay and Gisborne and for two and a-half days between Ruatoria and Tikitiki. Fortunately the rainfall was a good deal less inland, so that the -back roads did not suffer anything like the same damage as did the main highway. All men'and plant have been engaged, chiefly in cleaning up damage caused by the floods. The engineer reports the cost of repairing damage as follows : Main highway, £2100; Tokomaru-Mata, £775; Te Puia-Waipiro, £1400: Taka-pau-Ihnngia, £SO; Ihungia-Waitahaia; £300; .Anaura, £100; Mangaporo Valley, £150; total, £4875. Starting from the Uawa boundary the low-lying parts of the road north of the Anaura road junction were badly silted. This silting was the cause of delaying the opening of the road and Mr. Gilmour thought the time was now due for altering the road at this spot to a higher level. Owing to the silting of the banks of the Hikuwai River and the rapid growth of willows along tht banks, flooding would have a tendency to increase to highway level as time went on. In many places along this river parts of the banks have fallen into the bed, carrying with them the willows growing "along the tops. This would further restrict the flow of the water.