HEAVY RAIN STORM.

Timaru Herald, Volume XL, Issue 2943, 28 February 1884, Page 6

HEAVY RAIN STORM.

[From tho TIHAEtr Hbbald, tfeb. 25.] { The hopti th»t had begun to be entertained of s fdTqr»ble harvest seswn hato bean. rudely di»&)lled by one of the learicit falls of rain ireoaye exparieoood sinoe^irobably.the '■ big flood " of February, 1868. Followiojf a aucoe«»i()n of moderately bright days with north-eaiteily , windi, . Friday «m Tery hot over, South- Canterbury, m aUo ofer Otago, | while nua wa» threatening »t Obriitchtttob.'

On Friday bight a ohange to tain set m the South, with southerly wind, and Saturday morning broke dull and gloomy here. A slight shower or two fell m the moraine, and about three m the afternoon a rain set m, light jit first, but gradually growing heavier, winch continued all night and throughout yesterday, until between eight and nine m the evening. During the greater part of yesterday the wind blew from a south-easterly quarter, bat m the evening it veered round to eout'a and south-west. It blew pretty strongly .. at timeu, but never amounted to a gale. The rainfall, bo far as we are able to judge m the absence of proper measures, must have exceeded two iiiohes m the 15 hours. The conseqnonoes of >o heavy a full cannot bat be serious m the country districts. A large quantity of grain has been out wbioh is not yet »tacl;ed, and ever; nheaf moat be saturated, while unfinished and imperfeotly built stacks muet have suffered greatly. It is feared that losses: of live stock also will be sustained from : low- lying lands being .flooded, the rain coming on co suddenly that there would not be time to remove them. .Yesterday being Sunday there was no communication with any of the country dittrieta, by rail, post or telegraph, or otherwise ; therefore we have very little information as to the state of the country. A person who rode from Temuka informed us that a great deal of the road was under Water, indeed several broad streaks and patches of water could be seen on the plains from the Titnaru lighthouse. The Opihi,,was \ rapidly, rising, and already a good deal of low , lying land near the sea or, the Milford side ■was under wat er. The Washdyke lagoon wats . banking up, the outlet being closed, and the ; Waimakaifei and Saltwater Creek lagoons were also, filling faot. Travellers by the special night train from Dunedin, which; pained through Tiroaru- during .Saturday' night, . stated that they had experienced rain the whole journoy, that a great deal of, water was* lying about, and that the small rivers seemed to be rapidly rising.; Nothing: is known as yet as to damage to the raii*,j way jines, but judging- from the amount of rain that has .fallen,! the ballast-, ing at least musk have suffered, more or less m places. la Timara the . drainage sufficed m most cases to carry off the rain as tt fell, and we have not heard of any. damage .being dqne, The wind raised a littjjj sea, bnt not a very heavy one. The rain owned übout nine o'clock last nigh£, and at; midnight the stars were shining from, an almost oloudlees sky.;: We hope the change' will be as lasting as it was »urideD,and that, the nexfi week will be marked by strong winds, to dry the. saturated grain. ■■■■ . } [From the TntAßtf Hbbalp, Feb. 26,], : From all the information to head, the rain . of Saturday and Sunday appears to have been, heavier m Timara ana to the north of Timara: than southward, and heavier near, the coast, than further inland. The rainfall m. Timaru,. by gauge was 3.70 ioohes, at Waimate only 2.021 inches.. Fortunately the change to fine, weather on Sunday night gives some promise, of lasting, and . bertainly a good spell of fine, weather will be required to neutralise the effects of: such o downpour as. wo have had. ■ Our Waimale correspondent informs ■ na, thai, the rain o.immenced there about 1 p.m. on Saturday, following a calm .morning with, demo fcg and.high temperature. The rain continued without a momeat's iniermisiionj until 8 p.m. on SJundaj, with-Si and S.S.W. wind wid low i temperature. Although the rain continued so long, the creeks and etraima were not flooded to a height to oause any damage to roads,- bridges, <5t0., the Tain not being heavy, with the exception of a few, hours on Sunday ; evening. The outlook on. Sunday was dismal m the extreme^ ihe: crops,, cut and uncut, appeared doomed to destruction, but the almost magical ohaqge of the weather, a bright eun and easterly breeze on. Monday -morning; put a different pon}-; plexion on the scene. The low temperature would cause the; Wet to lie comparatively harmless to the grain m . stook, and if the weather continues fine it is exported: that little low will hare boon caused, beyond the loss of time from having ta wait till the ground drieo somewhat. The ram gauge at the County Council ; Chambers regiiterod .2.03 inohes from 1 p.m. on Saturday to 8.30 p.m. on Sunday. .. .; , Judging from the Appearance of the country along the railway lice between .Timara and. Waimato Junotion, the rain, though heavy, wag not equal to that experienced not long ago. Some of the low lands were flooded foe a time, but the watar soop Tan off, and by yesterday evening there wag not muoh water 'left on the surface,, neither were the, rivers very high. The grain m stooks, wherever visible from the tins, .appeared to bavo suffered- less. -than might) hava boen expected ; they did not appear muqh storm-beaten, and were standing tip fairy well. In sever.il paddocks men oould. be soon , piling up fallen sheaves.' The lagoons along the beach were certainly standing above their usual level, but »tt|l were not so high aft mifliifc have been anticipated. Some heavy? (crops of wheat nbout Makikibi appear ready; for th.e ieaper,:bat they wiUhaye to wait afew, dayii for the soil to rogaia sufficient flrmnejs, 'to carry the maobines. .;.:!. ': .= i The rain wag very heavy at Temuka, and jthe rivere were prett>r high, but not by any means- ia full flood. Xhe inhabitants ejE Wailingford were, however, .on the -gift two* during Sunday. night, fully expecting a heavy flood, from the quantity of rain that had, 'fallon. ■".,. :■■■■■;■■ ;.,. ".-*- --; .At: Oeraldine the, rain commenced oa Friday night. Rod on Saturday and Sunday it rained m torrents. It would appear that the rain fell very heavily m the hills behind Geraldine, as the Waihi was very high yester^ day, and Mundell's coach wat; prevented from oroseing.ab Feokham'a road by the flood. The , grmn m the field* is not x expected to suffer much] imperfectly built stack* are, oonnidered to be m the. worst plight. . . _, >„ I Our L'orreipondenU at the Point 'and' Fail lie Creek report a heavy downpour, of rain bi; those pltces. At Fairlia Greek fy commtflcxl at 2 p.m. on Saturday, and continued without a moment's oeasation till 9 p.m. oa Sunday, a steady downpour of over 30 hputs, and oreeks and rivers were overflowing yesterday morning. Harvest had been fairly coinmeaoed, and the- rain Trill cauie a great lots of time, as after suoh • soaking of the ground reaping cannot b* resumed for several day*, and the cut grain, will taka a long time to dry. . , The following teleerams indicate that the r&in hat been very heavy both north and south ;-- „ . ■ ■ : -..•-,•'. ] , .. OKHisreHTTROH, Sunday Evening. There t has- bejan a, al«ady: rain all last night and to-day. . . - { Oam»bu, Sunday evening. , There has .been a steady downpour of rain sinco yesterday morning, and at the preteut ■ time, it is raioiog harder than; ever. About, onethalf of the, crops ia the district has been out, but very little of , it has beenataoked, and it is thought if the rain continues much, longer a good deal, of! damage will be done. Beyond a drenching, the grain up to the, present oan have suffered very little mjury.aa; thq rain it accompanied by a cold southerly wind. 'Nothing is known as to any injury to the railway lines m the .district, but it it, imposfible for them to have escaped damage, M the flood is the heaviest that has been experiencod for a long time. . : , , „ . Dunbdik, Saturday evening. 11, ban rained hero almost without oestation since early yesterday murnjn^ ■ ! -