West Coast Floods.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 226, 27 March 1896, Page 2

West Coast Floods.

GREAT DESTRUCTION TO PROPERTY. (Per Press Association.) Reefton, March 26. The late floods are the highest knowH of the oldest settlers in Inangahua Valley. The Buller has also been nil* usually high. A great many cattle and sheep and several horses were drowned. Several chains of the road slipped away near Lyell, and will take some time to effect repairs. The wire rope at the Inangahua landing punt broke and Larry's Creek fold has been scoured out so that the mail coachgconld not cross, and had to return to Reefton. This Day. The floods are much more serious than was at first supposed. The road above and below Lyell was washed away in a number of places. Several weeks must elapse before the mail coach will be able to get through. The water rose 40 feet above the normal level in the Bailer. A lot of stock was lost. The road to Westport is probably much damaged. Westpoet, This Day. There was a phenomenal rainfall on Monday night. Seven inches were recorded in twenty-four hours. It brought down the heaviest flood seen in the Buller river for nineteen years. Westport was completely isolated, being cnt off by road , rail, sea, and wire. The lowly ing parts of the town are flooded. There is a terrific body of water in the Buller river, but the bank protective works stood the test well. The tug Mana was moored in an unsafe place, and had to run to sea at short notice and meagrely provisioned. The railway Hue between Westport and Mokinui is greatly damaged by slips. In one place hundreds of tons of earth came down on the line, and it will be over a week before repairs can be effected sufficiently to permit complete resumption of traffic. The roads are severely damaged all over the district.