HEAVY WEATHER.

Wairarapa Age, 5 August 1921, Page 5

HEAVY WEATHER.

RIVERS IN FLOOD. (Our Travelling Reporter.) The district has been visited by a storm of a severity rarely experienced. Exceptionally heavy rain, interspersed with prolonged thunderstorms, has fallen with little break since Monday and surface and flood waters have covered a large area of ground during the past two days. Considerable damage has been done to roads through being scoured by flood water and stock generally have suffered.

Considerable mortality is reported j among early lambs, though, luckily, lambing is not general. All rivers were in high flood yesterday and overflowed their banks at many places. A large area of country in the Dalefield, Belvedere and Matarawa districts is inundated and the country generally is waterlogged. The swamp road, leading off from the Waiohine bridge, has been impossible to motor traffic for two days, and a similar state has existed at the south end of Lincoln road, abutting the Dalefield road. A clearing sale of dairy stock to have been held at Waihakeke yesterday had to be postponed owing to the quantity of water about. At a late hour last evening there *was no sign of the rivers and creeks receding, and many settlers are having an anxious time. In ihe vicinity of Masterton the rivers have also been running full. The Ruamahunga rose bank high early yesterday, and submerged the road at Te Ore Ore. Farther eastward on the Tinui road the rainfall was lighter, and no serious damage is reported from that locality. The Taueru was only about half flooded. The Waipoua was very full all day yesterday and the paddocks on both -ides of the road between the two bridges were under water. Flooded rivers have done a good deal of damage in the Bush district. The heavy rains caused a big slip at Matheson’s Corner on the road from Ballance to Woodville, and the road is now completely blocked. The slip occurred on the deviation recently made by the Public Works Department. Employees of the Pahiatua County Council were at once put to work to clear the road. ELECTRICAL DIST L’RBANCES. The severe electrical disturbances last night badly affected the telephone service, and for a while there was a good deal of dislocation, both on long distance wires and in Masterton itself. Later in the evening things worked smoothly again.