BANKS TO BE BLOWN UP

Chronicle (Levin), 1 July 1947, Page 6

BANKS TO BE BLOWN UP

MASTERTON, .Tune 30. A decision to blow up the banks easi and w.est of the narrows between Lalces Wairarapa and Anoke to let the flood waters awav and to save stoclc standing about with water up to their midc|le, was reached at a eonferenee -ofVengineers on the spot this m ,'ning. ' The work would ne • one as soon as Ihe tops of the stopbanks were visible — probablv tomorrow or tlie next day,

said Mr. R. A. Donald, a member of the Wairarapa Catchment Board and chairman'of the South Wairarapa 'River Board. . The decision was reached in the face of extreme emergency. The lake outlet was closed 10 days ago and the lake level rose to seven feet. However, the outlet was opened and the lake level fell to 2 feet 6 inches in three days. In that time, however, the upper lake dropped only six- inches, which indicated the constricting effect of the banks in the narrows. The extent of the stock losses would depend on ho'v? quiekly the water was got away. Every stop bank has. been topped by the flood, including ,the Hume-McDougall bank further down the narrows, which it had been thought would never be topped.

Many residents of Pukeio and Kahutara districts, in .the South Wairarapa, were f aced with grave danger to their lives when the Ruamahanga River burst the stopbanks at Moiki and poured into the Pukio basin. The inundation of 10,000 acres of farm land is reported and the water is 10 feet deep in plaees. In accordance with a message received from the Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser) anyone requiring assistance in connection with the floods is asked to make application to the nearest police station.

A report from Pirinoa states thal thousands of head of stock have been lost on the Runanga Estate and Messrs. R. R. Burling's and E. C. Holmes 's properties. The railway line between Masterton and Pahiatua has been cleared of slips and a normal serviee- was restored today. Car Washed Away The force of the current in the flood - water was illustrated by the fate of a car which was abandoned on the Featherston-Martinborough road about nine miles from Featherston. At this point a streteh of about 100 yards was covered by a thick and lutulent stream of water from the Ruamahanga River. An Auckland residen I motoring throughj' had to abandon his car half-way across the streteh. At midday on Sunday it seemed at flrst as if the car had been rescued and taken away. There was no sign of it. Then, a section of black-painted metal was noticed protruding just above the surfaee of the water about 30(1 yards away from the road. It was the car. Apparently it had been swept bodily off the road and carried on by the water until -it had jambed against some bushes at the fringe of the flood. A small portion of 'the liood and a section of a bunrper was all that could be seen. .-