HEAVY WEEK-END RAIN CAUSES ROAD BLOCKAGES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 64, 3 July 1950, Page 4

HEAVY WEEK-END RAIN CAUSES ROAD BLOCKAGES

Commencing cn Thursday heavy rain, which fell steadily almost continuously until the early hours of Sunday morning, caused fears of a flood at Whakatane but apart from large pools on the sides of roads and overflowed gutters there was little or no flooding. Streams in the borough rose quickly but the Whakatane River did not rise until yesterday when there was no suggestion of any possible flooding. In the county some damage was done to a number of roads by washouts and slips. The Wainui, MatataRotoma and Foster’s Roads were all blocked by slips this morning but the county engineer, Mr C. H Brebner, expected them to be open to traffic later today. A washout to the bridge on the Ohope Road also stopped traffic to the beach during the week-end. No damage was caused to State Highways. The Wha-katane-Rotorua highway was chewed up in the unsealed portions but traffic could use the road without much difficulty. There were a number of small slips in the Waimana Goige but they did not interfere with traffic The Waioeka Gorge was blocked by slips and one Whakatane party travelling to Gisborne had to turn back because of a deep stream, which had overflowed onto the main road. Both main roads from Whakatane to Gisborne and Te Araroa were blocked this morning, and there were no through bus services operating. The Bay of Plenty railway line was blocked by slips near Katikati on Saturday and these stopped the Taneatua-Auckland express. Passengers were transported by bus to another train and continued the journey from Katikati. The line is not expected to be cleared until tomorrow evening.

Rainfall figures at Whakatane for the three days Friday, Saturday and Sunday show that it reached five inches. From 9 a.m. Thursday until 9 a.m Friday 1.63 inches was recorded. The wettiest period was to follow when up to 9 a.m Saturday there was a fall of 1.86 inches. Again at 9 a.m yesterday 1.25 inches was recorded. Although there were no serious accidents over the week-end heavy rain on Friday night almost caused a number. Visibility was very poor and at times it was almost impossible to see the road. Two women were knocked over by a car at Whakatane but neither -was seriously injured.