ANOTHER STORM

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 30, 30 October 1918, Page 6

ANOTHER STORM

HEAVY THUNDER AND PHENOMENAL RAINFALL FLOODED STREETS Wellington is having more than its fair share of bad weather. Spring is masquerading in the camouflage of winter, and utterly declines to realise its responsibilities, to the disgust of every sell-respecting garden and pardener. After Monday evening's formidable cloudburst it was hopefully imagined, that a spell of seasonable weathev would be ushered in. Vain hope! Hundreds of householders were still engaged in cleaning up the dirt left by the flood waters of the previous night, and the brooms were still being vigorously applied in a scoro of directions in the city and suburb.! yesterday at. noon,. when darkness overspread the city in the form of'thunderous clouds rolling down from the northwest, and shopkeepers had to resort to electric light to illuminate ■ the gloomy shades of their premises. At a few; minutes after noon thero was a blinding glare of lightning, followed by a crash of thunder, and the Hood-gates. of .tho heavens poured their fullness over city, country, and harbour. So thick and heavy was the rain that it was only possible to see a. couple of hundred yards out to sea, and the city streets became Venetian in appearance. Following this prelude, ensued the liveliest electric storm witnessed for a leng time. The lightning flashed with only seconds -between each discharge, whilst the roll of thunder (hardly so intimate as tfie evening before) was almost continuous. Rain descended in a positive deluge, and soon flooded the low-lying streets, and ninny backyards, owing to tho incapacity of the culverts ro carry away the swift accumulations of water. Two factors Helped the flooded waters backing up. In many' instances the storm of the previous evening had choked tho sumps with tho debris and shingly macadam from the streets, and the second inrush only added to the trouble. The other reason was tlmt the vast volume of water absolutely filled the main culverts, which iiow direct to the harbour, and as; it was high water at 11.30 a.m., there was not the same free outlet for the bottled-up waters that there would havo been had the storm happened a few hours earlier or later. As the result, many of tho low-set storm-water drains refused to act at all for an hour, and the water simply remained where it was, making many a backyard untenable. When the rain ceased and the tide dropped, the drains commenced to do their work again, and within an hour'or two something like order was restored.

Naturally, in such circumstances, thero was a good deal of minor damage done, including some landslips, on private properties. The spring gardens suffered considerable damage all over Wellington and in tho Ilutt Valley, and the effect on those people raising their own vegetables was discouraging, tho heaped rows being in many cases levelled out. At Karaka. Bay a retaining-wall behind Mr. H. J. Heath's residence (opposite the fqot of tho wharf) gave way, and tho fallen earth blocked up tho back entrances. A little further round the bank behind tho residence of Mr. _W. Eggers slipped away, and fell up against the back of the house.

Owing to the sumps being chokod a torrent of water rushed down - Majoribauks Street, and reinforced from Levy and Roxburgh Streets, ■ tore round the City Hotel in a stmuA ten feet broad. The water spread over the footpath, and several people who were shopping in the vicinity found themselves cut oil' for lmlf an hour or so.

Along Lambton Quay the surface-water spread over the wood-blocks from the Occidental Hotel to the Government Buildings, and for an hour the eastern sidewalk was impracticable for pedestrians. There were several slips along the Hut.t Bond, somo of them big enough to hold up vehicular traffic ,for a time. The water from tlio hills was projected in cascades on to the road, the surface of which is bound to be seriously affected. .■Up.till 9 a.m. yesterday the rainfall registered for the twenty-four hours was only ,G7 inch, but the measnremen: is not a correct guide to the heaviness of the precipitation, as it all fell in a comparatively sliort space of time. The fall for tlio twenty-four hours which will end at 9 a.m. to-day should be much greater.

Owing to bridges being destroyed by the siorni, tlio Ohariu-Makara Eoad will be closed to all traffic. LANDSLIDES ALONGIIIE MAIN TRUNK HEAVY DAMAGE IN ' MANGAWEKA DISTRICT. (By Telegraph-Special Correspondent.) Marton, October 29. A very heavy thunderstorm; accompanied by vivid lightning, passed over the district this morning. Along tlio Main Trunk quite a number of landslides have occurred in the district between Hunterrille and Tuihape, and for a long distance on eother side of the river the farms all show that more or less extensive damage has been done in this way, and in numerous instances the work of regrassing the devastated areas will be a big undertaking. In some instances the damage amounts almost to disaster, a particular case being that of Mr, W. Liddicoat's farm at Mangaweka. Enormous damage, has been done on this section, and the cost of repairing the fences alone will bo a very heavy one. The homestead stands on one side of a deep valley,' and large tracts of the basin sides around and below it have slipped away, the escape of the house being rather remarkable. From the farm of Mr. J. Lissette, on the opposite side of the road, a large slide commenced, and gathering'force and speed as it grew in size, spread out over the road, and swept down through Mr. Liddi* coat's place with the force of an avalanche. Everything in.its path was carried away, four monstrous bluegum trees being tossed down like feathers. The slide passed immediately in front of the dwelling, and moving down towards the bottom of the galley .spread, tridentshaped, and carried off corners of the orchard and many chains uf fencing, and also outbuildings.

From other faces of the valley no less than six slides commenced on a narrow frontage, and flowed out in all directions to the lowest level. The whole sceno near and around tlie home present an aspect of desolation such as never been equalled .by the same agency in this locnlity. Practically all the roads are blocked, in most cases very badly.