HUNDREDS HOMELESS

Chronicle (Levin), 19 March 1946, Page 5

HUNDREDS HOMELESS

IIISTORY'H WOR8T FLOODS IN VfCTOItlA SOME TOYVN.S SUBAJEllGED Received Muiiday 11.20 p.in. MBLBG C RNB, March : 8. •Seme are uiiaer water anu otliers i):ati.v subiimrged by tlu vorst fiooris m the history of tlie westorn disti'ict of Victoria. Hunrireds of people are peeau.se tiic-ir iiooses have been nlier rcvereii by water or Fwept siv. it is fe.ired tliat the ueathioil taa.v be liigher than at lirst expected. Ai'iiiy "dukks", amphibious vehicles, canying lilesriving gear, made a dramatic 2(;i) iniie dash iix the darkncss I'rom Raiiilieiia ciiip tu Melhourne, a^brug'uig nearly 4o miles an iiour. Early tiiis inoniiiig tlioy reiiieiled and. concimned at top spcod to tne .sti'iokuii area, where they went into aclioii tlus aitornoon. Tlie picx.uo is siik ineomplete owmg to disarraiiged eoiaaiiuneatio^. Oue i towu is c»>_apii:teiy swbiiie-geci and in otlicrs all tlie ixiuubitant,} have been o.\ acuate.d to liigher gronncl, where tkey j ea n watwi lae watSxS gradually cover- i xiig tlie roofs oi their dwellxngs. One 1 v.iiarf at 1'ort Fairy collapseu and another is crumblxng. A constable who tok a boat into the ' middle of tlie fiood waters found a lu.niiy of iive astride the uopmost gable of thcir house, with tlieir feet in rismg v. ater. Otiiers were hauled to safevy by 1 OjlOS.

For the 24 hours ended at 9 this morn iug, 868 poincs Oi x'ain wero reoordsu. at W..inamoooi, the higliest daiiy totax t ver. When a cart overtnrned near Mel bo;u nc a family of iive was tlirown into th» swiriing ftood waters. The body oi man viuk ro covered and the othei iour me pelif ved to have been drowned. K.ii-ly poliee reports indicatod i.'iat Bell, aoout 10 rniles south oi Iviax arfhur, was cut oif and that a vmhian and her daugliter were beiieveu t . have Leen drowned. !i .oxls were cansed by a cyclonic di-j.-.'csHioii with its centj.ft oii the ncrch 'v«i .:v co.iier of Tasmania. Today strong :.Vi.ids uid hea.y rain were experienced in iM' djourue and .Uouthern v'ietoria. An R.A.A.x'. Catalina made an an stivf t ,-.i . ,ii atteinpt to rescue three perS'.ni: \.no wero marooned on a jxous3i,op in (h.oiidali isv.amp, wA imxes sou.n oi Il'audoii. The plane finaily had to abaia..!'! tlxe atlompt because oi pior vi.-i..ii>ty and the ixuinbcr of logs in the .v. ters. A la.er message says the prixitipal t -Mi . x. ett«d by the iiooas are Vvarr-hiuiifj-j,,!, l orc Tairy, Portland, Casxern.uuilton, Coleraine and Macanuiii. Th- rain has now ceassd, but a hugc roliune of water is stili poming dovvn Ihe rivers which had broken their -".t Port Fairy a lake five feet deep loi.neii ii the eentre of tiie town, wh cix hau a- •. *.r before been fiooded. Serxous are lield for the sal'ety of tlxree l.imiues iu the Port Fairy district.