MANAWATU FLOOD

Chronicle (Levin), 17 July 1947, Page 3

MANAWATU FLOOD

CATCHMENT ENGINEER'S REPORT The chief engineer of the Mana- • watu Catchment Board is to arrange with the chief postmaster, Palmerston North, for subexchanges to remain open in times of flood so that warnings can be 'given quickly by telephone. This | was decided at a meeting of the j board on Tuesday. I Reporting on the recent flood, the chief engineer said it had been one of the largest this century. He compared it with floods of 1902, 1926 and 1941. Because of favourable weather, no westerly winds or high tides, water was passed to the sea with less damage than had been anticipated. The engineer said that the week before ihere had been a record high tide. The small loss of stock had been through the efficiency of flood warnings. The breaks in the bank at Buekley had been unfortunate, though it had helped other areas by localising damage. A passage in the engineer's report said that during the course of * the flood all the engineering staff had been empioyed in tak^g velocity readings at gauge sites, and also in obtaining as much information as possible about the flood for , use in future design work. Damage to river works had not been very grfeftt.' Three banks bn the Manawatu River would need repairs.