RAIN-SWOLLEN WANGANUI RIVER ROSE 22 FEET

Wanganui Chronicle, 6 September 1950, Page 4

RAIN-SWOLLEN WANGANUI RIVER ROSE 22 FEET

Swollen by heavy rain throughout Monday and early Tu. / lay morning, the Wanganui River had risen 22 feet above normal at Pipiriki by noon yesterday, and the small bridge on the road just below Pipiriki House was well under water. Yesterday afternoon, however, the river began to fail just as rapidly as it had risen, and was only 10 feet above its normal level by 8 o’clock. Slips and fallen trees blocked the Pipiriki-Wanganui road at many places, but bulldozers and workmen had cleared the road by last night, allowing Pipirlki-bound buses and transport lorries to resume their services. The Pipiriki-Raetihi Road was also blocked. The river was still running high in the city area last night and it is exl pected to continue to do so today. At the height of the fresh, the site of the new Aramoho Boating Club boathouse was under water and gravel dumped there was spread along the bank. A considerable amount of driftwood was moving in the river yesterday. The staging at the Union Boat. Club's and the Wanganui Rowing Club’s sheds was under water yesterday. The pontoons withstood the rushing flood waters. MINOR CITY FLOODING Minor flooding was caused in parts of Wanganui when the swollen waters of Churton's Creek backed up and spilled into Purnell Street and Selwyn Crescent at high water. The flood waters receded when the tide ebbed. Surface water appeared in the Selwyn Crescent area late on Monday and by dawn yesterday several acres of pasture and the gardens surrounding some houses were inundated. The water lapped the doorsteps of some of the lower-lying houses. It also swept into the sports grounds at the rear of St. Mary’s Convent, Grey Street, and some houses near the main entrance to the Wanganui Racecourse and at the top end of Hatrlck Street. The flooding occurred so swiftly that some of the water bypassed the entrance of the Churton's Creek continuous culvert, which is now near Maria Place extension, and banked up on the outside of the culvert right down to Ridgway Street. Matarawa Stream flood-waters backed up at Wanganui East and invaded gardens in Anzac Parade and the pasture at the lower end of the Esplanade. The road was clear, however.