SEVERE FLOODS

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXII, Issue 222, 29 December 1926, Page 5

SEVERE FLOODS

■-— IN NEW SOUTH WALES. THRILLING RESCUE WORK. (Received this day, 1.33 p.m.) SYDNEY, r *'o-Day. Torrential rain benefitted the whole State, but caused heavy floods in many parts of the town of Cessnock and suburbs, while Newcastle suffered severely and scores of people were rendered homeless. There were many thrilling rescues. The rain falling without cessation for 4S hours submerged all the low-lying parts of 'Newcastle and district, causing damage estimated at many thousands of pounds. Belmont, a holiday resort on Lake Macquarrie cut off from Newcastle, both by r 1 and by road, owing to a section f the line and road being submerged So rapidly did the flood waters rise that the safety of inhabitants was jeopardised. As the local municipal authorities had made no provision for rescue work in the event of floods, it had to be taken over by the. Newcastle police, who manned skiffs and rowing up and down the flooded streets rescued householdeds. As rain continues it is anticipated the position will become more acute. Reports from all parts of the country state that communications are greatly interrupted, many wash-outs, on the railways disorganising traffic. Cessnock was flooded without warning, the waters rising so quickly that the- residents barely had time to escape from submerged- homes. In one case the police had to swim a hundred yards to rescue a family whom they pulled into the boats by ropes. Many miners with families encamped in the garden suburb of North Stockton, for the holidays, had to evacuate as tents were torn down by the cyclone which accompanied the floods. So far only one fatality is’ reported, an old man living in a tent at Root, Liverpool Range, near Murrundi, being drowned in attempting to cross a flooded gully. Further floods and heavy gales are anticipated, and flood warnings have been issued in all parts of the country.