CLOUDBURST AT OTAPIRI

Southland Times, Issue 23693, 16 December 1938, Page 4

CLOUDBURST AT OTAPIRI

Kauana Suffers From Downpour TORRENT STRIKES FARM AT MOUTH OF GULLY A cloud burst occurred between two and three o’clock yesterday afternoon in the Otapiri district, and Kauana, which is four or five miles to the west of Otapiri, appeared to receive the full force of the downpour. Water came down a gully at Kauana like a raging torrent and struck Mr J. Macalister’s farm at the mouth of the gully, sweeping fences, a small bridge, sheep and trees away. The water invaded Mr Macalister’s homestead, but it was not of any great depth. Paddocks ready for cultivation and tussocks were stripped. The water was three or four feet deep at fences, where debris and sheep acted as a dam until the weight of the water and debris burst the fences, the water sweeping on to the open country. Poultry and sheep were carried away and Mr Macalister will suffer loss, but he does not know to what extent. Four hundred lambs and ewes were in a paddock in the path of the flood. Everything happened in a short time, the only warning being the roar of the water as it rushed through the gully.