HEAVY RAINFALL IN AUCKLAND

Southland Times, Issue 23437, 18 February 1938, Page 4

HEAVY RAINFALL IN AUCKLAND

Slips And Wash-Outs On Railways TRAFFIC SERIOUSLY DISLOCATED PORTION OF SUBURBS OF CITY FLOODED (United Press Association) AUCKLAND, February 17. Slips and wash-outs caused by torrential rain seriously dislocated railway traffic on both the north and south lines today. After the arrival of the limited express from Wellington today a washout at Opaheke, near Drury, left 11 lengths of the main trunk line suspended above the flood waters and it was not until this afternoon that traffic was able to proceed further south than Drury. Extensive damage to the North Auckland line resulted in the cancellation of all services north of Swanson, but tonight repairs were well advanced and it was expected that the Whan-, garei-Opua express would leave as usual tomorrow morning.

When the blockage occurred on the "main trunk line at Opaheke it was decided to tranship the passengers by. motor-bus between Papakura and Paerata|. About 11 o’clock the difficulty was increased when a bad slip came down at Karaka, a few miles south of Drury. The line was entirely blocked and the track was pushed out of alignment. A steam shovel used in the work of duplicating the line was buried under the debris. Efforts to tranship the passengers between Paerata and Papakura were further hampered by the blocking of the road and the transhipment was eventually made at Drury, lire line was clear for the afternoon express for Wellington. NORTH LINE UNDERMINED The main north line two miles north of New Lynn was found to be undermined six feet for a distance of nearly 40 yards as a result of a serious slip. Passengers on suburban trains were taken by rail to New Lynn, from where they were transferred by buses to Henderson and Swanson. A gang of. 5 ® plate-layers, surfacemen and relief workers began the task of filling in the large gaping hole beneath the rails and cutting back a 15ft cliff some feet and for a distance of nearly 50 yards to make space for the removal of the railway line back about six feet on to a firmer foundation. Further north, between Kaukapakapa and Helensville, the line was flooded for several hours. , The low lying areas of the Auckland suburbs were flooded and in parts of the Mount Roskill district muddy water flowed under the houses and over the gardens. , , , Rain fell off and on throughout the morning, no work being done on the waterfront. . ■ The phenomenal total of 4.84 in of rain was recorded for the 24 hours ended at 9 a.m. and the most of this fell .between 1 a.m. and 9 a.m. This fall brings the total for the month to 9.5 in for February, which is three times the average. . Damage to roads, bridges and cutverts and. also to sections of the railway lines is extensive. In the city there were isolated instances of private property suffering. No injuries as a result of the storm were reported, though there were narrow dscapes.

Reports received by the Automobile Association (Auckland) indicated an early improvement north of Auckland, but in the Bay of Plenty conditions were becoming steadily worse when the final reports were received tonight.