SERIOUS FLOODS CONTINUE

Southland Times, Issue 23989, 2 December 1939, Page 4

SERIOUS FLOODS CONTINUE

Crops Swept Away In

Marlborough

NIGHT-LONG EFFORTS TO HOLD RIVER

(United Press Association)

BLENHEIM, December 1. Ten thousand sandbags were filled by River Board workmen and farmers on the banks of the Wairau river this morning in an effort to prevent the swollen river topping the stopbanks and flooding the rich agricultural land of the surroundng countryside. The River Board staff, augmented for the occasion, laboured till midnight cutting a 500 yards wide channel through the boulder bank at the Wairau bar to give the accumulated floodwaters a more direct exit to the sea. All told the board had more than 100 men engaged in a desperate fight against the flood last night, in addition to settlers who laboured in their own interests on the stopbanks adjacent to their properties. In some instances the measures taken were effective but' there were places where water rose so swiftly and to such an extraordinary height that it soon poured a foot or more deep over the embankments which had already been raised as much as three feet above normal. This water inundated extensive areas in the Spring Creek and lower Wairau districts but the worst inundation resulted from the breaching from the stopbanks on the Tuamarina side where farm houses were invaded and valuable crops were swept away by the swirling yellow water. The plight of settlers was made unpleasant by interruption of the power supply due apparently to the washing out of poles carrying the cables across the Wairau.

Although less than half an inch of rain fell here in 24 hours to 9 a.m., torrential rairi in the backcountry fed all the rivers in the province last night resulting in the Wairau, already heavily swollen, rising 16 feet six inches above normal, one of the highest points ever reached. All road outlets except that to the West Coast are closed by floods and communications were still interrupted this evening. The last train to Picton probably for several days got through yesterday afternoon. The water was then six feet below the level of the bridge at Spring creek but a few hours later the railway line was under water. BRIDGES DAMAGED IN NELSON STOCK LOSSES REPORTED IN SEVERAL PARTS (United Press Association) NELSON, December 1. Heavy flooding blocked all highways for 24 hours before midday today, when the waters had receded sufficiently to allow some services, including Blenheim, to resume. Train services were dislocated today because of a washout of 150 yards at Brightwater. A relief train is working in an effort to resume schedules tomorrow but extreme difficulty has been met as the Waimea river is still in heavy flood. Two spans of the Dart bridge, at Wangapeka, were washed away. The Riwaka river overflowed, inundating a wide area and destroying areas of tobacco plantations. Many roads are still flooded and wide areas are covered on the Waimea Plain and in the Golden Bay area. Heavy slips are reported on Takaka Hill but a full investigation is not possible.

Stock losses are reported in several parts of the district* mainly at Havelock, Canvastown and Rai Valley, but the full extent is not known. The floods follow a series of drought during the year, rain having broken a prolonged dry spell at a period when the harvest prospects vzere being regarded dubiously.