ANOTHER BLOW

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXVI, Issue 7900, 10 September 1929, Page 3

ANOTHER BLOW

FOR EARTHQUAKE SUFFERERS DAMAGE BY DAM BURST HOMES, FARMS AND STOCK GONE By Telegraph—Press Association. WELLINGTON, this day. The postmaster at Karamea reports that the dam in the gorge of the little Wanganui River broke away on Sunday night. No loss of life was caused, but considerable damage was done in the Wangapeka Valley, where two or three houses were shifted some chains. Scobie’s Bridge was swept away, and there was a heavy loss of stock. The dam in the little Wanganui River was a mile long and 400 feet high. Debris came down from two hills of 4000 feet high on each side about twelve miles from the mouth of the river. The settlers had little or no warning and it is a wonder they escaped. The loss of stock will be heavy and probably ruinous to the settlers, who had just been provided with a good metalled road and were beginning to prosper. About two miles of this and also the bridge were destroyed. Mr Schadick, the county engineer, who inspected the place after the ’quake, found the country so dangerous that he could not get far. The river was flowing through the bottom of the dam when he saw it and he thinks heavy falls of snow melting may have been responsible for the burst. A further message has been received from the postmaster at Karamea re the Wangapeka flood as follows: The individual losses are: J. Gilmore, whare and two cowsheds washed away, loss of stock unknown yet; J. Bird, three-roomed house and cowshed gone, loss of stock unknown; C. Search, house all right but farm badly cut up and half his stock lost, will be unable to carry on; R. Scobie, house and cowshed gone, and about 52 sheep: H. Jenkins, farm cut up, loss of stock unknown; T. Rex, flood through the house, about 24 head of stock lost and the farm cut up; E. Samuels, house shifted about fifteen yards, cowshed and 17 head of stock gone; Bert Baker, farm cut up and estimated that about 50 head of cattle have been lost, also an unknown number of sheep. The road and bridges from Jenkins’ property to Gilmore’s have been entirely washed away and the farms covered with trees and debris.