THE FLOODS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 933, 3 May 1883, Page 2

THE FLOODS.

The floods have so far subsided as to allow of railway communication being restored, although passengers have to undergo no little inconvenience through being forced to disembark at those places where the line is interrupted. The express reached Ashburton this morning in good time, and proceeded as far as the bridge, the passengers for the South walking over to the Tinwald side where another train was in waiting for them. A gang of men is busy working on the bridge to-day, and it has been found necessary to drive several new piles. These are between 40 and 50 feet long, and will he driven in front of those which have been damaged by the flood, and the two will be braced together. It is impossible to estimate as yet the full amount of the damage ; but, from reports to hand, it appears that the farmers in the Ashburton Forks and Methven districts will be the greatest sufiarers. The worst, however, seems to have passed, the weather having cleared up and the rivers having resumed their normal state. The Timaru train arrived this morning all safely, but was not allowed to come over the bridge. A passenger informs us that the line between Orari and Rangitata has been torn up in several places,'but it has been repaired temporarily, and no stoppage in the traffic is occasioned. The Southern express will no doubt arrive this evening at the usual hour.