RAGING FLOODS

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 106, 7 May 1934, Page 10

RAGING FLOODS

DESTRUCTIVE DOWNPOUR

VALLEYS LAID .WASTE

(By Telegraph.—Press Association)

■ ■ CHRISTCHURCH, May 0. .Disastrous floods occuned in the early hours of SaturdayL morning in the valleys* and flats on the southward slopes of Banks Peninsula. The total fall in Christcburch was about four inches,'tho heaviest rain for four years at least, but phenomenal falls were recorded' at Motukarara (12 inches) and at Akaroa (11.43 inches). On the hilltops the fall must have been much heavier. Most of the heaviest rain fell in the early hours of Saturday morning. In ri! c ci ty *he damage was negligible, rhe Heatbcote. River, held back by a high tide, stopped the outfall of two storm-water drains, and this led' to streets-.being lightly flooded. Moorhouse Avenue and Spreydon 'were the parts most affected. -•.■ When, the tide, receded and the rain slackened at about noon on Saturday ceasing altogether.'at 4 o'clock, the storm waters soon disappeared. :None of the large rivers/ which are snow-fed,. flooded at all, and other ram-fed; streams on the plains, while m a heavy, state, did no damage. FARMS STRIPPED OF SOIL. The excessive Hoods on the limited area, below Banks Peninsula* were caused -■■•by- a rainstorm of extreme severity early on Saturday morninsr. Two beautiful little valleys, Price's Valley and Kaituna Valley, were laid waste on . the lower levels by raging floods on the hilltops and the southern slopes. A terrific deluge caused a phenomenal run-off into the valleys, and little, streams, which' ordinarily; wind slowly to Lake Ellesmere, became fierce, swift torrents, sweeping all before them. In Price's Valley six small bridges were either swept away or were damaged, and had the 'approaches scoured out. Eoads where the current had passed over them were stripped of -shingle.and turned into watercourses. Whole areas of tilled land were completely stripped of soil. One settlor lost-a field, of eleven acres of.potatoes ready for digging. Not only were the potatoes washed out, but all the soil also. ' The main- road ; to Little River runs 'round 'the base of;'the hills past the mouths of these" valleys. The road was; deeply'flooded yesterday, and was a till' impassable "today. ENGINE ISOLATED. •The - pressure ■of the flood' waters - coursing down from the valleys above caused several .wash-outs in the Little River railway line fringing the lake. The "embankment acted as a stopbank. A- small: train was isolated, it passed over a-culvert and the weight of the train shook it in its already weakened condition; The culvert was promptly ■washed away. A few'chains further on ther train was stopped by a washout, so that it had to stay on its little island. The carriages have since been removed." A repair gang packed the culvert temporarily and the carriages were brought to the city, but the engine is still there.

The whole line is , covered with debris, mostly logs and boulders, and will not be clear until tomorrow.

■At Little Biver, a low-lying township at the head of Lake Forsyth, the water rose'to the level of the railway station platform before; it receded. On the main road through the tbwn-

ship the water ran in a five-knot current at a depth of two or three feet. Several houses were flooded, and families had to bo rescued in the early hours. . ' Little news is yet available from the township, but it is statod that the damage is severe and that stock losses are also serious. But for the low level of both Lake Forsyth and Lake Ellesiiiore, which j allowed the flood waters to get away, the damage would have been •much more severe. ' On the slopes where this torrential rain fell the land rises from the plain fairly steeply to a height of 3000 feet, so that tho floods lose with alarming suddenness. . Phenomenal rains fell at Motukarara —12 inches—and at Akaroa the fall was 11.43 inches. 'On the hilltops, where no records are available, the fall must have been, even heavier. , HOMES ABANDONED. At Little Biver tho following families had to leave their homes:— Withers,- Dawber, Louden, Rout, W. Leuthwaite, J. Keenan, Breitmeyer, Ferris, Paterson, and Mould. In the Kaituna Valley the families of A. Stephens, S. Turner, T. L. Lamport, A. Marsh, and W. Parkinson had to leave, and in. Price's Valley W. A. Gray and J. R. Parrish. At Peraki Commander S. Hall had to leave his home. His tennis court, garden, 'and shrubbery were swept away. At Te Oke Mr. Gordon Murray had his cowbails and chaffhouse moved' some chains away; he has lost all his winter feed. :■■■••■■

Many of these settlers have lost livestock, but it is impossible yet even to estimate the total loss.

Dead calves, sheep, pigs, and hens lie scattered in the valleys, but the totalnumber may not bo calamitous.