FLOOD DANGER.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20425, 2 October 1934, Page 11

FLOOD DANGER.

Serious Plight of Wairarapa. TOWNS DEVASTATED. DISTRICT ISOLATED AFTER TERRIFIC GALE. ( Star ” Special Reporter.) FEATHERSTON. October 1. Devastated by a terrific gale to-day. the Wairarapa district was threatened with serious floods. The great wind that tore down houses, trees and telegraph poles was accompanied by torrential rain, and it is feared that in isolated Wairarapa the worst is not yet over. The miracle is that no one was killed in the terrific gale which devastated Carterton. Houses were demolished, .the flour mill was torn down and roofs lay all over the district. Thousands of trees and many telegraph poies were swept to the ground and shop windows and verandahs littered the streets, yet no person lost his *ife in the maelstrom of debris which darted everywhere with all the power of a gale, such as has never been experienced before, behind it. As far as can be ascertained, only three persons suffered, the casualties being at Carterton, which was the centre of the disastrous visitation. One man had an arm broken, another had his jaw broken and a boy had his arm cut with a piece of flying iron. Tales, that if told anywhere else than in Carterton would be described as more than terminological inexactitudes, abound, and are proved by visible evidence. The entire roof of the garage of • the South Wairarapa Motor Company at Carterton was swept away into an adjoining paddock, and now lies in fragments over a large area. A sheet of iron wrapped itself around a fence post. Timber from the sawmill near Martinborough is now floating, together with parts of the mill, in the flooded river, while the whole of the stock of timber from another mill was hurled across the road and spread over adjoining paddocks. The gale afid flood have wrought damage the extent of which cannot be estimated yet. Communication Cut Off. The whole of the telegraph and telephone and power lines are down tonight, and the road between Greytown and Carterton is impassable. Late to-night the railway between Carterton and Featherston was cleared, and a work train came through with one passenger. While the road between Carterton and Masterton is clear, the whole of the telegraphic and telephonic system radiating from Masterton has been dislocated, and Masterton is within the isolated area. It was reported at eight o’clock tonight that the river at Masterton had overrun its stop-banks and that a big ' stream of water was running, through the main street of that town. With the exception of communication between Featherston. and Wellington, the whole system was out of order. Descriptions of the fierce gale which struck the whole district between seven and nine o’clock this morning vary little. The wind had been increasing steadily since midnight, and by dawn had increased to a tremendous velocity, which was computed by some to be as high as 70 miles per hour, a figure which is credible when the trail of damage and destruction is seen. Concrete Building Rocked. “ We didn’t know what was going to happen next,” said the proprietor of one of the leading Carterton hotels. “ This concrete building groaned and shook, and so much was the vibration that the nails fell out of the plaster ceiling. Then we looked out and sawnothing but sheets of iron going in every direction, while every second shop window was smashed, and verandahs and fences snapped with reports like those of a machine-gun. Rain came with the gale, but did not ease it off until nine o'clock. It was simply awful.** A tour of the district the wide range of the damage. Whole plantations, used as shelter belts, were torn down, one tree, as it was falling, bringing another one with it, until in some cases there was not one standing tree left. Approximately 200 trees fell across the railway line, in one case I smashing the wires and fences for at least half a mile. - A large nor don of the roof of the Tauherenikau Hotel, well known to members of the reinforcements which were trained at Featherston, is lying »n pieces over the surrounding country, while there even bluegum trees have been brought to the ground. Railway Station Razed. Only the floor is left of the Dalefield Railway Station, while there is little of the original roof of the Carterton Station left. Seven large railway vans used for the transport of /frozen meat are lying on their sides at Waingawa freezing works, where it is reported damage runs in to thousands. All along the line trucks of smaller sifee have been swept from the rails and are now lying on their sides or upside down near the track. It is feared that the worst of the floods is not yet over, for heavy rain is still falling* and the rivers, which spread over the whole countryside, discharge into Lake Wairarapa. This will probably rise considerablv and flood a large area which is not now under water. EMERGENCY SERVICE. Communication Set Up With Radio. FEATHERSTON, October 1. A great effort was made to-day by the Post Office and the Railway Department to maintain communication with stricken Wairarapa. even radio being used by the Post Office when ah other means* of communication failed Reports from Postmasters early m the morning indicated that tremendous damage had been done by the gale, and, although at the start flooding wa c not anticipated, arrangement! were made to extend emergency services to cover this added disaster. Featherston is the terminal station

j for the Wairarapa and two operators and a driver were sent there from Wellington in a fast car. Additional apparatus was installed in the F eatherston office and the driver w-ent through the flooded district as far as Masterton to deliver and bring back telegrams for transmission from Carterton. This service was maintained until S p.m., when the flooded Waiohene River had so far extended its course that it covered, a mile of the main road, with the water up to five feet deep. The stream was running like a mill race and there was no chance of a horse getting through. Then it was that the emergency wireless sets which had been installed in several Post Offices for just such emergencies as these came into action and radio communication was established between Masterton and Wellington. Thus, although all wires in the district were down and there was no ordinary means of communication a service was maintained. Clearing the Railway. The Railway Department did its part with just as much expedition., A breakdown train left Wellington immediately it was known that the line was blocked and, picking up men all along the line, it got to Featherston. Four expert busheutters w-ere added to its crew and these were employed in cutting the tree trunks which lav across the line. A railway engine was used to push the logs clear, gangs of men with ropes steering them into safe positions. The result was that by nine o’clock to-night the railway was clear as far as Carterton for careful running.

TRAIL OF RUIN. Masterton Houses Unroofed and Damaged. A GRANDSTAND COLLAPSES. Per Press Association. MASTERTON, October 1. The many buildings damaged in Masterton include Burridges Brewery, the new portion of which was unroofed, the whole of the structure being torn away from the brick walls, turned over and deposited in a mass of wreckage. The roof and side of the grandstand in Memorial Park collapsed into an almost unrecognisable mass. At Daniell's timber yard the joinery and machinery sheds, both 120 by 61 feet, were unroofed, also portion of the moulding shed, the debris being scattered in all directions in the neighbouring paddocks'. Among the many houses to have their roofs lifted was one in Opakt Road, Lansdowne, the roof of which came off in one piece, struck the power lines and broke into two pieces, one of which fell in the garden of the house on the opposite side of the street. Produce Hall Wrecked. One impressive incident in the western side of the town was the flight through the air of a mass of roofing material which landed on a property in Renall Street. A section of the roofing from a house in Essex Street Extension, rafts and other timbers with roofing iron still hanging together, was lifted bodily by the wind over a distance of some hundreds of yards and dashed against the strong trellis of a house in Renall Street. Buildings on the Solway Showgrounds suffered severely, the produce hall being jvrecked. Masterton Park presents a scene of wreckage, innumerable trees being uprooted and giving the appearance of milling operations. FARMERS’ LOSSES. Dairy Herds Suffering Through Storm. LAMB FLOCKS DEPLETED. (■‘Star” Special Reporter.) CARTERTON, October 1. Farmers of the Wairarapa will suffer heavy losses as the result of to-day s devastating gale and floods. Five hundred square miles of country is tonight without electric power and it is impossible for those with big herds to milk by hand. The actual loss ot butter-fat is not by any means the only one. for stock will suffer through lack of attention. In some parts of the country a supply of power would not have been in any way beneficial, for the herds are cut off by floods and cannot be reached. It is expected that there will be considerable losses through drowning and this will be added to by increased mortality of lambs, a good number of v. hich have already been drowned. Shelter Belts Razed. Those farmers who had shelter belts razed will suffer through lack of these for many years to come, the small return which will be obtained for the fallen timber being in no way sufficient to compensate for the loss of shelter in the arid summer. One cheese factory has been so damaged by the gale that it will be at least three weeks before it can resume operations: while other factories which are without electric power to-night will not be able to handle cream until Wednesday at the earliest, for it will be impossible to restore the reticulation until then. The flooded roads also add to the misfortunes of the farmers, for they are unable to get to the railways and dairy factories. Freezing Works Damaged. From reports which have been received it seems that the Waingawa Freezing Works suffered a good deal of damage and there was a report that a man had been killed in the falling debris. However, several men from the works got into Carterton to-night and they know nothing of the accident. It will probably be possible to restore the freezing works in time for the killing season, but the loss to the company will be considerable. The whole of the countryside used candles to-night as the sole means of illumination and there was a huge rush ’ on the stores for these, one shopkeeper j selling twenty cases. Reads Deserted. j With driving rain out of doors it was j almost impossible to find the way on strange roads to-night, the blackness J being impenetrable. The result is that ; the roads are almost deserted, even j motorists not caring to venture out, j as there was the possibility, through ! floods, of them not being able to return.