TORRENTIAL RAINFALL

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXIV, Issue 8731, 16 February 1935, Page 3

TORRENTIAL RAINFALL

IN AUCKLAND CITY AND SUBURBS CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE DONE B.v Telegraplr—Press Association. AUCKLAND. This Day. Torrential rain, of exceptional severity, fell in Auckland and suburbs yesterday, causing considerable damage in shops and warehouses in the lower parts of the city and in the low-lying areas in the suburbs. Shortly after 1 o’clock the weather became thick and following a minor cloudbusrt the storm broke in full force and continued unabated for two hours, accompanied by a mild electrical storm. The total fall from midday to 5 p.m. was 4.40 inches. The streets were awash and the flood waters entered many basements in the business area.

Dozens of young men had the unusual experience of swimming almost in the heart of the city. They plunged around up to their waists in water in Fort Street lane and swam about. They even took shallow dives. By 5.30 p.m. the water was over 3 feet deep at the lowest part of the lane and many warehouse cellars were flooded to a depth of 2 feet and over. In one warehouse the solid concrete floor was cracked open by the subterranean water pressure. In Fort Street a large area of the wooden paving blocks was forced up by the pressure of water from the over-loaded mains.