A WATERSPOUT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 12, 27 December 1911, Page 8

A WATERSPOUT.

INUNDATION OF PARTS OF DUNEDIN. CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE DONE. il’er Press Association.) Dunedin, December 24. The weather is still very unsettled, and the prospects for the immediate future are anything but promising. Heavy rain fell early this morning, and for a few hours this afternoon i osidonts of Woodhaugh and North-East Valley bad an anxious time. In the former locality a flood came down suddenly about 4 p.rn., and considerable damage was done to fowlhouses. Fowls and dticks were washed away, and in many houses there was 3ft or 4ft of water. The civixens got a severe fright, and made hurried preparations for exit, several seeking refuge on the roofs of houses. The Woodend bridge was partially washed away. Residents on the flat in Woodinuigh and North-east Valley had a most alarming experience. At first it was surmised that the reservoir, -some four or five miles away, had burst, hut it is now considered that the flood is due to the bursting: of a water-spout on the hill between Leith Valley and Mount Cargill. 11 " ;•*•■■■• ■< At 2 p.m. the Leith was nmni !g about the same as usual, but an hour later the water was running down toe streets to a depth of oft or 4ft like a mill-race. The rush of water was so sudden that the residents had no time to prepare, and they had to make a hurried exit from the houses, fn some eases women had to ho rescued in traps. So far as is known at present 1 three horses were drowned. The ihailcart was washed away and badly smashed, but the horse was rescued. Tons of .new'potatoes, cabbages, and frees were washed away, and in the lower parts of the Botanical Oardsns the flowers are buried in mud..A visit to the scene to-day revealed a deplorable state of affairs. In many houses water has been up to a level higher than the beds, and the deposits of mud must mean heavy losses as the result of damage to carpets, curtains, blankets, etc. For some hours citizens iu the localities concerned had a very anxious time, and it was not till 7 or 8 p.m. that the waters receded sufficiently to warrant the belief that the danger was past. Several people are not yet aware of the loss they have suffered, as they are away for the holidays. At North-east Valley there were about 18 inches of water in many houses, and in some it was 4ft or oft deep. In this locality, too, much damage was done. The rain has cleared off now, and the flood-waters are receding.