Subsiding Floods Reveal Battered Homes And Shops

Chronicle (Levin), 30 August 1949, Page 5

Subsiding Floods Reveal Battered Homes And Shops

Received Monday, 7 p.m. SYDNEY, August 29. Desolate scenes are revealed as the floodwaters subside in the Kempsey area after the worst flood "in its history. The town appears today as if battered by a cyclone. Shops and dwellings have been swept away and over 200 buildings show extensive damage. Huge wooden structures are spreadeagled and only the supports of others remain. In the main shopping- area many buildings have been pushed out of alignment. Remnants of shop windows and contents litter the streets and wrecked cars and trucks are protruding from heaps of brushwood and smashed timber. Household debris is lodged in tree forks and'mud is banked high against the buildings. Tlie police estimate that liaif of 25,000 people in the Macleay distriet have suffered loss and that over 2000 Kempsey residents are homeless. Army amphibians, planes and (boats are getting supplies to small towns still under water. After their house collapsed, two boys were swept a mile downstream before lieing- saved by police lioats. Two eonstables.engaged in rescue work were hurled from their boat and spent 36 hours clinging to the wreckage after two houses ou which they took refuge, collapsed. Eleven people are still sheltering on a ])latform in a tree on an island in the Gwydir River. Amatenr radio operators responded magnifieenl ly to the emergency, some operators standing by their sets 48 h oiirs witholitj sleep. Among the heroes is a yonng Ralvation Army captain whose boat erew saved 125 people. At the height of the flood he made nine tfips across fhe racing Macleay River. vwwvwwwwywwwwvwwwvvvwwvwvvvwwvwvw^wwyw^^^^v»