GREAT DOWNPOUR AT CHRISTCHURCH.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 470, 31 March 1909, Page 8

GREAT DOWNPOUR AT CHRISTCHURCH.

STREETS UNDER WATER. CYCLONIC DISTURBANCE 'AT LYTTELTON. DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT £30,000. {DI TBLKQBAPH—PBBSS ASSOCIATION.) Chrlstchurch, March 30. Tho Christchurch, Woolston, and Sumner tram service was completely disorganised today owing to tho flooded condition of Lower High Street, caused by torrential rain. Tho scene in the vicinity was a memorable one, residents being completely isolated. This afternoon houses and shops wore still Swash, some of tho premises being completely flooded out. A trailer between two engines was used for passenger traffic, and as they ploughed their way through the water they raised a tidal wave which' swept up against tho fences and tho houses like tho surf breaking upon the beach. On one occasion tho engines came to a dead stop, and a crowded irailer of passengers was completely marooned for a long' period until sufficient steam could be got up to movo forward. The Cas Supply., The gasworks in Waltham Road, which suffered from last year's floods, were again inundated. ,Water began to make its presonce felt' about 8 a.m., and tho fires were almost extinguished. The help of fire engines was again secured, and two were sent down to pump the'water out.. It took some little time to make an impression, but when the downpour partially ceased, - good • progress was made. ■ The officials anticipated that only one-third of the usual amount of gas would be made to-day, but they were satisfied that the town would bo kept going under low pressure. The flood at the works was more severe on this occasion than it was last The flood subsided ev«m more suddenly than it roso. The downpour exhausted itself into a drizzle about 10.30, and from that on thero was a speedy diminution of the flood of water on tho streets. At noon many or the flat roads ware clear. Tho Fire Brigade had numerous requests this morning for use of tho steamers to pump -out cellars. , It was impossible to comply 'with them all, and in the public interest precedence had to be given to the necessities of the gasworks, where some of tho fires had been put out. . All Records Beaten. s The fall of rain experienced beats all Canterbury records! For'the twenty-four hours finishing at 9.30 this morning 3.16 inches ot rain fell. The rain, however, did not commence falling until nine o'clock last night, so the measurement is actually for little over twelve hours. "Up to 1 p.m. the fall was 3.75 inches. The barometer fell with unusual rapidity. . . The indications are that the ram is nearly over. ■ ■ ■ , Terrific Storm at Lyttelton, Not within the memory of the " oldest inhabitant" of the port has such a-terrific storm burst upon Lyttelton as was experienced there this morning. From shortly tie-, fore six o'clock nntil about 9 o'clock Lyttelton seemed to ho the centre of an extraordinarily violent cyclonic disturbance, wnicn brought with it torrential ram and a ternhc sea, and in those few short hours damage to tho extent of thousands of pounds was done in the harbour. , Throughout yesterday a cold soutn-east wind was blowing at Lyttelton, witlroccasional rain showers, but last night it changed to the south-west, .and'gradually increased in strength. Heavy rain commenced to fall, and during the ear y hours of this morning there were several deluges of rain which burst over the harbour with great violence. About seven o'clock, however, came a lulh It was only the calm .before a terrible storm. The wind worked round with great suddenness to the eastward, and was soon blowing with hurricane force.. With the wind came rain, not heavy showers, but great torrents. For some hours a perfect deluge fell. There was, however, no fear of a flood, for the water was quickly carried off. the steep streets of _ the town by the storm water, sewers; while all the gullies round about were raging torrents. The Harbour. The most extraordinary feature, of the great storm was the great suddenness with which a phenomenal sea got up in the harbour. Tho wind', blowing with great violence from the eastward, brought with it a terrific sea, which rolled up the haTbour in huge swells. On the Lyttelton side of the harbour the; effect of the sea was that extraordinarily great swells smashed an eastern end" of the reclaimed land below Spur Point, and although no very serious damage resulted, there were several washouts in the rubble facing, ; whilo seas swept clean oyer .foreshores, and huge pools of water formed in all the hollow places along the water front. Further up the ,harbour, however, the damage done was very heavy. Huge rollers made an attack on the eastern breakwater ' at its junction with the. reclaimed land at Officers' Point. Here there was already a break in the. rubble "facing, caused by a heavy sea about two years ago, and the breach was quickly widened. The breakwater makes a trend out into the harbour at this spot for about,a, third, of its length, and the outer face was thus exposed to the full strength of the seas. Huge pieces of rock were picked up by the seas and rolled and' thrown about in all directions, and carried away by the violent backwash, and . rubble and clay "filling" was washed out in tons, while tho outer roads of the railway lines'fell into the gaps and disappeared.

Breakwater Damaged. About a hundred or two hundred yards further along, at the outer bend of the breakwater, the damage was even worse. The breakwater is even more exposed at this point, and enormous seas were soon rnnning right over the rocks and across the timber decking of Gladstone Pier. The outer railway lines were quickly broken up and carried away. As the seas ate nut the rock facings and fillings, they made an enormous breach in the breakwater, and while hundreds of tons of rocks atd cloy were swept away 'into the harbour by tho backwash, many tons more were washed across the top of the breakwater and deposited in a great bank over the inside rails, while the timber decking of Gladstone Pier was covered with a thick layer of rocks, shinglo, clay, and silt right to the rails of schooners moored inside. Piles .of jarrah sleepers, stacked along the outer edge of tho breakwater, were swept away or piled in confusion among old boilers and ballast buckets, and across the railway lines. At 10 o'clock the breakwater presented an extraordinary scone of wreck and devastation, and although the seas were losing something of their tremendous forco, they were still engaged in their work of destruction, and were still sweeping over the level of the rails and widening and deepening the gap they had made earlier. The estimated damage amounts to £30,000. '. . • . The Maori Has a Rough Passage. Abonfc 11 o'clock, although no signals announced her approach, tho turbine steamer Maori steamed in through the fasWisappearing mist, came up the harbour at full speed, after by far tho longest passage she has ever made from Wellington. Fast as she steamed, huge seas raced past her, and the vessel pitched and heaved in the tremendons swell. She shot across the harbour outside the breakwater, and then came full-speed astern to the wharf, berthing shortly after noon. Captain Hunter reported a terrible passage down from Wellington. The heavy southerly gale made it doubtful whether the vessel would get out last night, and the manager left it. to Captain Hunter's discretion. All the way down the coast the Maori battled against a hard southerly gale, and heavy seas. At about

4 o'clock this morning, when the Maori was about thirty-five miles from Lyttelton Heads, the wind changed with great suddenness, and soon was blowing a howling easterly gale. The seas were like mountains, according to Captain Hunter, and rain came down in a terrific deluge, making it impossible to see many yards ahead. 'The vessel would have reached Lyttelton shortly after 8 o'clock had it not been for the very thick weather, but Captain 'Hunter very prudently headed his steamer off the land until' he picked up Lookout Point, after which he headed for Lyttelton, and came straight in. The Maori and her passengers had a very rough time of it, and the vessel herself suffered somo damage from tho tremendous seas. About 8 a.m. a terrific sea struck the ship, and broke clean over her. Her saloons and alleyways were flooded, and matters made very uncomfortable. Seas smashed several of the thick square windows on the port side of the upper deck, cabins were flooded, and passengers had to shift to drier quarters. One of tho cabin doors was broken off its hinges, whilo on tho lower deck water found its way to some of the'engineers' rooms. Tho accident boat, on tho starboard side of the after deck, shifted threo or four inches in the chocks, but beyond the smashed ports and flooding of tho cabins and alleyways, no serious damage was done.