Six People Drowned; Many Homeless; Enormous Damage

Chronicle (Levin), 20 June 1949, Page 5

Six People Drowned; Many Homeless; Enormous Damage

. « Redeived Sunday, 7 p.m. SYDNEY, JUnfe 19. At least six people ■ have- been dr-owned • and three others are believed lost, in violent and extensive floods along the central coast of New South Wales. , T'housands are homeless and enormous damage has been donfe. Mapy towns are in danger and large comiiiUilities are entirely stirrounded by flood waters. y The floods in the coalniining area of Hunter River, are the i niost extenhive vver known there. When the Hunter biirst its banks yesterday, the poliee ordered the evaeuation of towns iucluding Singleton with a population oi' 5000. Streams of refugees poured to liigher ground all yesterday. At Maitland, 30 miles down the river, gangs of volunteers are working des])erately to lmild -flood banks with sandbags to save the niain» part of the town, the lower part of whicii is already flooded. There are fears that the Hawkesbury River may tuni from its course and run along a new bed about five miles north of "Windsor. Other results of the floods, rain and stormy weather, are that Sydney will be without gas by tomorrow. the train serviees between Sydney and Brisbane have been stopped because cf washouts. AI ilk is in very short su])ply, eggs will be scarce because of the number of fowls drowned in the floods, and the vegetable erops have been severelv damaged.

No ships left Sydrtev yesterday 6ccau.se of lieavv sea* and ■ the Maiily ferrios eeased ninuing. The poliee have been given emergency pouers to move families and prb- i vide food, elothing ainl shelter for the . refugees at Singleton and Maitland. | People Drowned. George (Janhner, aged -5, and Hasn Clifton, aged 15, bnlli fannhands, wero drowned" wlieu they attempted to crosh Ihe Hunter Kiver on horseluiek in an elfori to reneh safety. George Pve, aged 25, lost his lite in j a siimlar manner in the South Creeii near lii.s honie at Windsor. Ksnie Gordon, aged 1 ti, was drowneu in Curreki Kiver when helping a number of small children to eross. Kobert Arthur, aged 2 1 , was swept away and lost when he tried to ride a horse through Davis Creek near Aoerdeen. Jolin Kobert Wilson. aged 42, overseer at the Warraganiba dani, was swept away and drowned in sight of nis wife, when trying to eross the Xepean Kiver by means of a wire struug aeross it. The Maitland poliee f'ear that three soiuiers engaged in reseue work havfe been lost. Their boat was swept aeross a submerged sports ground iuto a deep river liole and overturned. Xo trac'O of thein luis iieen fofcnd sinee. A father and son of Kdtoomba averted a certain rail disaster when they noticed a washaway on the edge of a clifx on the main western line near Katoomba. Thousands of tons of eartn lias fallen away leaving the rails suspended over a 200-fobt drop. They rang Medlow Bath station "but were told that the express for Sydney haa | already passed through. They tlifin ran half-a-mile through hlinding rain, wav- 1 ing coats' and shouting to the engine driver. The train was travelling qiuck- i ly when sighted and was "brought to a 1 standstill on the bring of the wash- [ away. . rnpreeudented rain during the past week has brought Sydney to within a few points of an all tiuie rainfall record for June. Already over 15(i(i points of rain have fallen compared with the June reeord of 1(530 points estaldished in 1 ss."j. ()f this, over eleven inches fell last week. The Hunter River rose 45 feet above normal at Singleton and then bmst its hanks, forcing 1400 people to evacuate their homes. At Maitland, the Hunter River rose 34 feet — the highest level for 36 years — and waves surging from the breached

banks rushed through the town. Over 1500 families have been evacuated here and many are, billetted in public buildings. All r'oadg into Windsor are bloekeu but the railway line is intaet. Gosford reports that all road and rail trafhc. between Sydney and Xewcastled is disorganised because of tremendous floods sweeping aeross the eountry from the Wyong River to Guggerah. Motor boats have rescued many people marooned on the roofs of their eottages. The vegetable crops in more than 700 square miles of the Cehtral Coast district, have been washed out. The total vegetable loss in the floods is estimated at £3,000,000. The total number of homeless exceeds 6000. Relief planes are active today droppiiig blankets, food and ciothing to tne most distf'eftsed areas. Consignments ot blankets have been dropped on high ground near Singleton and Maitland. Army amphibious vehicles and tanks are doing yeoman service. "Ducks" removed manv iiivalids and stveteher easeS to hospitals and rescued 1 "i wbmen from a stalled bus in a Maitland street. When 15 people at Oakhampton ignored the evaeuation warning. aifother " duclt " had to be rushed to their r'esche through 20 feet of water. Oue amphibioiis tank was bogged 'down and swamped but the crew was rescued. ■