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WORST OVER

TAIERI FLOOD WATERS RAPIDLY SUBSIDING RAILWAY TRAFFIC RESUMED (Special to the Times.) Dunedin, July 19. As rapidly as they rose, the floods on the Taieri are now subsiding. Save for the dislocation of rail and road communication and the forced suspension of farming activities, the consequences of the deluge of rain and the overflowing of the rivers have not been serious on the Taieri plains. The protection walls along the river bank have held throughout and the protected areas appear to have escaped the floods. At Berwick and East Taieri however, the flooding was deep, yet no losses of importance are reported. Road and rail communication, both north and south, was reinstated to-day. The reported washout of the railway line at Otokia was not at all serious and the roads have not suffered extensive damage. The Waipori river was still running high this morning, but the flood waters were subsiding rapidly. At 10 o’clock, the depth on the low roads had fallen to two feet, and on the lowlying properties the water had decreased to a depth of from three feet to four feet. From Outram reports are to hand that conditions took a decided change for the better this morning and the flood quickly drained away. At 11 o’clock there were only six inches of water on the roads and the West Taieri bridge was easily negotiable. At daylight snow could be seen on the Maungatuas, the rainy spell having evidently ended in a light snowfall on the high country. Settlers’ Complaint. “I do not think the inundation on the plains has been very serious,” stated Mr T. Ball, district Public Works engineer, this morning. He said that he visited Allanton and Berwick yesterday and the protected areas seemed to be fairly free from water. The pumps were bound to cope with the flood waters. Mr Ball has received no reports from public works officials in the affected districts, and consequently does not consider that the situation is causing much concern in the Berwick district. The settlers are loudly complaining that their unenviable plight has been caused by the Electricity Department tipping the gates at the Waipori dam, the added volume of water being discharged into the Waipori river and then carried down to the flat. The official reply of the Department is that a fortnight ago a very heavy snowstorm was experienced in and around Dunedin and the storm was more severe in the Waipori watershed, necessitating this course of action.

Railway traffic to the south was resumed late this morning. When the flood subsided at Otokia, the washout on the line was found to be not serious. At 10 o’clock the water on the line had fallen to 21 inches. Thirty passengers for Invercargill motored to Henley early this morning and joined a train from there through to Invercargill. Many passengers, however, were still held up in Dunedin, and to expedite their return to the south the Southland farmers’ excursion train which left Dunedin about 5.45 p.m. was strengthened by several carriages for the convenience of those who were unable to travel owing to the flood. A decision to run trains through to the south was promptly made on receipt of the report that the line was safe after the water had subsided sufficiently at Otokia to allow of an inspection being made.

COMMUNICATION RESTORED

TRAINS AND MAILS GET THROUGH.

An improvement in the flood conditions on the Invercargill-Dunedin railway line at the Taieri was reported yesterday, and rail and road communication, which was interrupted on Wednesday evening and Thursday, was restored.

A cessation of rain in the affected area was responsible for a rapid subsidence of the flood waters. Stretches of the lower lying portions of the road and line are still covered with a fair amount of water, however, and it will be several days yet before they are thoroughly cleared. Yesterday morning’s mail train from Dunedin, usually arriving at Invercargill at 1.10 p.m., could proceed only part of the way, but a subsidiary train was run to Invercargill from the south side of the flooded area and reached Invercargill at 1.40 p.m. Mails and passengers were brought by this train, the mails having been conveyed over the flooded area by bus. The up mail train left Invercargill as usual at 1.45 p.m. It was expected that it would get through all right, although to pass over the submerged stretch of line a reversion to gas-lighted cars would have to be made. The latest electrically-geared cars are low slung and as the bat terms are contained in the under carriage it is not advisable to risk the damage which would be caused by the electric gear contacting with the waters. The danger with the gaslighted cars is not so apparent and they can be hauled through waters of a fair depth. These cars would be on hand at Milton and little time would be lost in the changeover. The 7 o'clock express to Lyttelton will leave this morning as usual.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19290720.2.57

Bibliographic details

Southland Times, Issue 20831, 20 July 1929, Page 7

Word Count
837

WORST OVER Southland Times, Issue 20831, 20 July 1929, Page 7

WORST OVER Southland Times, Issue 20831, 20 July 1929, Page 7

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