Heavy Rain And Wind At 50 Miles Per Hour

Chronicle (Levin), 12 May 1949, Page 9

Heavy Rain And Wind At 50 Miles Per Hour

Press Association}

(Per

GISBORNE, JMay 11. A bitterly cold south Qasterly gale, accompqnied by prolonged torrential rain squalls, lasbed tbe Gisborne district throughout today and increasing in intensity tonigbt. A sharp fall in temperature marked tbe breaking of tbe storm in tbe afternoon during whieh g-usts up to 50 miles hourly swept tbe area. Tbe wind inereased in violenee after nigbtfall. . Tbe storm disrupted the air services to Gisborne and severed. road communication witb Napier in tbe vieinity of Wairoa where fioodwaters encroached aeross both bighways. So far botb tbe Gisborne-Opotiki and East Goast roads to tbe north are open but are rapidly deteriorating. Tbe rainfall for tbe 24 hours to 9 a.m. today was 1.17 inches and over an incb has fallen since tben up to"5 p.m. Tbe Wellington-Gisborne plane due here at 4.30 p.m., ran into an electrical storm between Palmerston Nortb and Napier and stopped over nigbt at Napier because of bad conditions over Gisborne, while tbe Auekland-Gisborae plaiie duePbere at 4.25 stayed the night at Tauranga because Darton Field, Gisborne, closed down on account of adverse weather witb poor visibility and low ceiiing. The plane will ieave Tauranga at 6.40 a.m. and after inspection here is expected to leave Gisborne for Auckland at 8.45 a.m. Tbe plane remaining at Napier will be despatched from tbere to Wellington. Tbe Gisborne aerodrome is very wet with many greasy patcbes and mucb surface water. The prolonged heavy rain and storm from the flood quarter, put Catcbment Board officials on the alert late today and a watch was kept, on the Waipaoa River gauges at Te Karaka and Kanakania. Fortunately the rainfall in tbe headwaters area was not so heavy as round Gisborne and the river rise early tonight, approximately five feet, was well below tbe danger level of 18 to 20 feet. Officials did not *expeet any sharp rise till daylight hours, if tbe storm eontinued. A possible danger was a heavy fall of snow in tbe. Mangatu area whieh is melting rapidly. Heavy fiooding is reported in ^he Whakaki, near Wairoa, but no details are available.