HEAVY FLOODING IN CANTERBURY

Southland Times, Issue 25746, 9 August 1945, Page 4

HEAVY FLOODING IN CANTERBURY

People Leave Homes In Shirley

HOUSES IN KAIAPOI EVACUATED (P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH, August 8. With floods in the Shirley area as bad as ever has been known, over 40 families had to leave their homes today and a few more were still leaving then' flooded houses in the darkness tonight. A number of Sumner families and some in the Radley district also had to be evacuated. Water appeared to surround every house in the area of Flockton street, Portland street and Carrick street, and in some instances the floors were covered to a depth of six to eight inches. Furniture and household goods were stacked high in many houses to keep them from damage. About 15 men with five City Council trucks were assigned to the work of transporting residents to and from the flooded area and to the evacuation of those families obliged to leave through the actual flooding of their homes or through the threat of flooding. The city engineer, Mr E. Somers, said tonight that apart from evacuating families the council trucks had been called upon to help an ambulance which had been unable to get near a house to which it had been summoned.

Perhaps 50 houses, Mr Somers said, had their floors flooded during the day or so nearly so that the residents had not chosen to remain. Of the people evacuated most had gone to friends, some to hotels and boarding houses and others to the People’s Palace. The council’s men and trucks had also assisted in rescue work of a similar nature at Sumner and in clearing slips. LARGE AREAS INUNDATED

About 200 persons were evacuated from their homes in Kaiapoi on Tuesday and today, and large areas, mainly in the north-west parts of the town, were inundated. Employees of the Kaiapoi Borough Council worked all Tuesday night evacuating families by boats and trucks. The evacuees were housed in the borough hall and with friends. In the area round the Cam river the most serious flooding occurred, and nearly all the houses in Peraki, Otaki, Akaroa and Snyde streets were evacuated. It was considered that there was no danger of the Eyre river breaking its banks, and the business area of Kaiapoi was clear. In some places near the Cam river the water was about four feet deep and entered houses by the windows.

It was feared that the full tide would bring worse flooding, but shortly after full tide the water had fallen by about two inches.

Considerable losses of pigs, sheep and poultry are reported. The rain eased off during the evening and had stopped, at least for the time being, at 10 p.m. Burying both the main highway and the main trunk railway line, 20,000 yards of scrub-capped clay slipped from the Blue Slip about 4 p.m. on Tuesday. About 11 a.m. today a second slip some four feet high and 25 yards across descended from a small gully and completely blocked the main highway one mile above “The Shades sheep station, five miles south of the Blue Slip, Kekerangu, is isolated. Sufficient soil from the first slip had been cleared away by noon today to allow cars through to Kekerangu The Blue Slip, however, presents a far more difficult proposition. It runs to the edge of the sea. It cannot be bypassed and can be walked round only at low tide. Fifteen to 20 feet of sodden clay will have to be bulldozed away over a distance of three chains before the Blenheim side of the main highway is reached. It is doubtful whether even by Friday the entire road will be open to traffic. The Blue Slip is three miles north of Kekerangu, where heavy rain fell from Monday morning until early on Wednesday morning, 7.05 inches being recorded in the locality at 3 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon. MAIN HIGHWAY BUCKLES The main highway, which runs close to the railway in this vicinity, began to buckle and rose one foot, but the railway line, some 15 yards to the sea side, still held. At 4 o’clock, however, both the road and the line were covered and the accumulation continued as the rain went on. It is possible that the line will be unusable for two weeks. First, 15 feet of clay will have to be cleared to reach the railway track, which lies twisted at an angle of 20 degrees. Then the foundations will have to be examined, and, in all probability, strengthened. The coastal road should be cleared temporarily from the Blue Slip in two days.

It is possible for service car passengers to walk round the base of the slip at low tide. Motor bus passengers managed to get, through today. They were transported by trucks between the two slips. The passengers had to clamber knee deep in mud over the Blue Slip.

MAIN ROAD FLOODED AT MAKIKIHI

A road report received from the Automobile Association (Otago) last night stated that the main north road was flooded to a depth of 18 inches at Makikihi, 18 miles south of Timaru. It also stated that the approaches to a bridge north of Temuka had been washed out and a detour was necessary. More flooding was expected.