FLOOD’S TRAIL OF HAVOC

Taranaki Daily News, 23 February 1935, Page 7

FLOOD’S TRAIL OF HAVOC

WATER INVADES HOMES PERSONAL PROPERTY LOSS RISE OF MANGAOTUKU Although attention has been largely focussed on the damage done by the flood to large New Plymouth buildings and expensive bridges and roadways, thousands of pounds worth of damage has been dofie to private houses, bowling greens, sportsgrounds, fences, gardens and pastures. • Newspaper offices yesterday were inundated with rumours and reports of houses that , had been invaded by flood Water, of loss of personal property, fowls and dogs drowned, plantations uprooted, and fencing tom down. Probably if every item ,of this type of loss, though comparatively minor in itself, were totalled the sum would be staggering. While the Mangaotuku Stream did appalling damage in the town area the two miles stretch along the upper reaches also overflowed its banks and flooded hundreds of dwellings, depositing silt and debris on verandahs and floors and ruining many beautiful gardens. The low-lying greens of the Paritutu bowling green were ruined and late yesterday afternoon were still under three feet of water and dotted with large fragments of driftwood. An elderly couple occupying a nearby house escaped damage to their property because the building is on tall piles, but they were marooned until the middle of the morning. At this particular point the river, normally only six or eight feet wide, was spread to a width of nearly 50 yards. Early yesterday morning the stormwater overflowed and swept over the lower part of the Heidelberg school grounds. Considerable damage was done to sections of the Belt Road footpath, and gardens in this area were also torn up by floodwater. From this area to the Taranaki Brewery, following the course of the stream, the havoc became progressively greater. Fowls were drowned and the fowlhouses washed down, lawns ripped up by swirling driftwood, fences levelled. Every low-lying place was converted into a shallow lake. FORCED TO HIGHER LEVELS. Residents of Weymouth, Aubrey and Mount Edgecombe Streets had a terrifying experience when the rising flood waters invaded their homes and forced them but into the torrential downpours of early morning to seek safety on the higher levels. Rooms were flooded to a depth of two and three feet and floor coverings and clothing in lower drawers ruined. When the water subsided as quickly as it had risen yesterday morning those who had been forced from their homes returned to survey the damage ruefully. Many philosophically set about the task of clearing up and were busy all yesterday with buckets and brooms clearing the silt and fine driftwood that the flood deposited inches deep on the floors. Half a dozen families, however, found their homes uninhabitable. Many related the alarming experiences of the night—quick flights from water that rose visibly about their knees, screams of women and children terrified by the roar of the rain and running flood waters, midnight expeditions to save personal effects and furniture from, further damage. Everybody was busy yesterday working and talking. The spirit of resignation in which most received the discomfort and loss caused by the inundation was remarkable. Farmers from outlying areas report extensive damage to sheds, pig styes and other small farm buildings. In the country areas the cloudbursts were frequently accompanied by violent winds that levelled fences and wrenched roofing from open shelters. Sloping hillsides were scoured in deep runnels by rain that seemed to fall as if from a gigantic, upturned bucket, riverside pastures were Washed away and others spoiled for a season. In pasture damage alone the toll of the terrific storms is more than considerable.