Flood Waters Cover Miles of Farmland

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 665, 17 May 1929, Page 11

Flood Waters Cover Miles of Farmland

DANGER NOW PAST LOSSES OF STOCK (Special to THE SUN) HASTINGS, Today. Miles of water still cover a great part of the country between Hastings and Napier, but the worst danger of further flood damage appears to have passed. Some considerable loss of stock is reported and farmers will suffer through their land being covered with silt. Most of the losses have been suffered in the Pakowhai district. At least 150 lambs were drowned on a property at Brookfield and it is feared that that estimate will be found to have been exceeded. The owner had 9,100 head on the property. A total of 6.500 were got safely away and 2,600 were left. The employees have been unable to gain access to the property, and it is not known how the sheep left are faring. This particular owner will also lose all the grass from 800 acres. Another landowner in the same area lost 400 sheep by drowning. He was able to rescue his pigs and about 700 sheep. Three hundred sheep are said to have been lost on a third owner’s land and 400 on a property adjoining it. Trains have been kept running between Napier and Hastings, although the line for some distance is under water. At Whakatu Bridge, the Ngaruroro River was a raging torrent, and the waters were not more than a foot below the stringers of the bridge. Quantities of driftwood were jammed against the piles. From Clive onwards to Napier for a distance of six miles the road was clear in spite of the fact that the tide was at its height, but there were signs that the water must have covered the road to a depth of 4ft or sft during the night.

LOSSES THOUGHT SMALL NAPIER ROADS OPEN AGAIN Press Association NAPIER, Today. The flood position is decidedly more reassuring. All night long the weather was slowly improving and today patches of blue sky and occasional glimpses of the sun have brought more confidence. The water is slowly draining off the land and the rivers, tardily but surely are falling. Stock losses are not obtainable, but should not be severe. Few horses and cattle have been washed away, and only one carcase has been deposited by the sea on the town beach. A report overnight of a number of sheep being drowned has not been confirmed. The main road to the south is now open to traffic, but some country byroads are still covered up to three feet in places. The Wairoa road is still closed, but that to Taupo is passable with caution. In transpires that the reported new course of the Tutaekuri River does not extend more than a few hundred yards, the force of the current having been dissipated over the country before it reached the Papakura Road.

MANAWATU OVERFLOWS _ FOXTON CUT OFF Press Association PALMERSTON N., Today. At least 10,000 acres are under water around Tiakitahuna following the rapid rise of the Manawatu. There are signs though that the flood is subsiding. The Foxton line beyond Tiakitahuna was impassable for traffic today and with the dislocation of the railway service Rangiotu is isolated from Palmerston North by the main route, being accessible from this centre only by a detour route. Fortunately, owing to the efficient organisation adopted following experiences of previous floods settlers were able to remove stock from threatened areas to safety and it is understood very little loss was suffered.