THE FLOODS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1712, 1 April 1913, Page 5

THE FLOODS.

GORE'S SORRY PLIGHT. DAMAGE—OYER £100,*000. EXCITING-EXPERIENCES. FARMERS' HEAVY LOSSES. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Gore, Marcli 31. Tho streets aro again nearly clear of water, but many low-lying sections ore still inundated. Tho condition of tho interior of shops and business establishments is indescribable. Every description of goods, counters, and' shop-cases, and broken glass mirrors are mixed up and in a ruiiied condition. This morning there is bright 6unshine, and the street fronts aro lined with goods to-, dry, but o largo amount is only fit i'or the rubbish heap. Tho majority of shopkeepers workid all day yesterday in tho endeavour to effect sonic sort of order. In houses, furniture is littered everywhere,'and is covered with'a thick deposit of silt. People aro working slienuously to clean and dry their dwellings, but the majority will bo unablo to sleep in their houses for 6cmo days, in most cases mattresses are soaked aiul worthless. Many families are almost destitute. Tho schools will remain closed this week, in lie'j of the midwinter holidays. Numerous narrow escapes wero recorded, but no loss of life.

Footballer to the Rescue. A man named Cox, ft local butcher, with others, was engaged in roscue work when Ills caa-t' capsized, pinning Cox against a hedge, whore ho wiis kept for over two hours in tho water. Fortunately, ho was able to keep his head above tho water, and he was finally relieved by means of ropes. He was then almost in a state of collapse, and is now suffering from pleurisy. Another man, Adam Hoffman, a wellknown local footballer, rescued scores of people in East Gore by means of a large raft which could hold a dozen people, and was' towed with a boat. Numbers suffered severely from exposure, scantily dad, on. roof tops throughout the day. ' Local Cliineso gardeners had n. very trying experience, and- had to seek refugo on a house-t6p at 4 o'clock in the morning; ' The'lioufeo.finally floate'd away, but the Chinese were ab}e to reach tho roof of a lean-to which was almost submerged, and they wwo unable to bo rescued till late on Saturday-afternoon, when a boat was successful in reaching them. Railway Interruptions, Railway surfacemen had a most strenuous time. Gangs have been working almost continuously in tho last twenty-four hours, with tho result that connection was established on tho main line.- A - gang worked all right to repair the wash-out-at East 'Gors, and completed their,task at 7.15 this morning. The express passed through twenty minutes late. There aro breaches, in tho Waikaka and Kingston lines, but t'hey ato expected to be repaired to-day except about a quarter of a mile on the latter, where the passengers will havo to walk.

The Switzers lino is reported to bo in a bad state. Wash-outs are numerous. In somo places 10ft. embankments havo been washed away, and the, rails and sleepers shifted bodily a considerable distance. Several wash-outs are fully A quarter of a>milo long, and a. dozen smaller ones'are', also reported. Dome'. Creek bridge is washed away, and it is expected it will bo a fortnight before a full train servico is running on the line. Washouts between Eiversdalo and Mataur& Bridge are very eerions. Practically the wholo of tho ballasting at Waipounoino'; Flat was washed away, and the rails in somo instances havo been removed to 'a considerable distance.' Horse traffio between .RiverSdalo -and .WaikaiajwaS effected yesterday. ■ i - : It is not expected electric light and power will be avaikblo in Goro .till Wednesday owing to the 'generators and dynamo being submerged. , At Mataura tho town water is temporarily cut' off. Only Catholic and. Presbyterian, services were held -locally yesterday. There were small attendances. -

How Wyndham Fared. At Wyndham tho Mimihau banked up and flooded Wyndham, not so bad as in Gere. In the main street there business places suffered severely. The individual losses aro great. , Tho Wyndham railway line between the town and the traffic bridge is seriously damaged.' Farms have been flooded, and thero is serious loss of stock. Communication is cut off from Mataura Island. Tho new bridge is .damaged, and stock and crops tliere are almost totally lost. Practically tho wholq island is under water. There aro washouts on the Ma-taura-Brydone Road. ' Tho Wendon correspondent of the "Ensign" writes that at the confluenco of the Waikaia and Mataura Rivers there i 9 an immense body of ■ water some two miles wide. Fences havo been torn down and tho approaches. washed. away from tho bridges. In the meantime the district is isolated from vohioular traffic. Many farmers fortunately got all their stock in. Miles of fencing will have to be re--built. Thero havo been great losses of grain.