DELUGE IN CITY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20130, 27 December 1939, Page 8

DELUGE IN CITY

WELLINGTON SUFFERS HUGE SUBURBAN SLIPS HILL ROADS DEMOLISHED HOUSES INUNDATED (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. Rain which began in showers yesterday afternoon, developed into a continuous downpour which continued throughout the night. At times the. rain was very heavy and it >s still coming down heavily. There is no prospect of the Plunkel Shield match, Auckland v. Wellington, being resumed. The. players are going to the ground at 11 a.m., but >t will be only to collect their gear and Wellington will win on the first innings. The Auckland team will leave on the 3 o’clock train.

The Rongotai aerodrome is flooded and it is reported to be unworkable. All low-lying areas about the city are similarly affected by. surface water. Conditions at the motor camp a 1 Miramar arc uncomfortable. No serious flooding is yet reported from the Hutt Valley. 4.48 in. in 11 Hours

The rainfall recorded at Kelburn observatory up to 9 a.m. this morning was 4.48 in., most of which fell from 10 p.m. onwards. The rain eased off at 11 a.m., but approximately another half inch will have fallen up to noon. Residents at the back end of Karori are again sufferers from flooding. Already numerous slips have occurred about the hill roads and properties. A very serious slip occurred when many thousands of yards of sandy hillside overlooking Lyall Bay started to break away at 6 a.in. This was the scene of a serious slip 15 months ago and repair work failed completely, a length of three chains of Sutherland road and a shorter length of Carlton road still higher on the hillside broke away, smashing the stormwater and drainage services and carrying off the foundations of the house of Mr. C. R. Dunce, 132-A Queen’s Drive. A huge amount of sloppy silt Swept down across Queen’s Drive, flooding four houses here and a dozen more houses in Torn street. Mr. Dunce’s house will have to be demolished.

The city motor camp at Miramar is not affected, but the motor camD with 15(1 cars at Scot's College is very badly flooded, about one-third of die parties befog surrounded,

The aerodrome is quite unusable to-dav. The Centennial Exhibition grounds are not flooded. Blockage on Boads

The rain does not appear to have been heavy in the hills. The Ifutt River is practically unaffected. The whole of the Petono and Lower Hutt areas, however, are carrying a large amount of surface water. Happy Valley road is completely blocked. The parade at Island Bay is flooded for about a third of a mile and thei'e are a number of houses with water over the floors. The new outfall drain burst. Trams are unable to reach the terminus. There are several large slips on the surrounding hillsides including one against a house. December is now definitely the wettest Wellington has known. The rainfall as recorded at Kelburn is 15in., which is five times the normal figure for the month. With the flood of a couple of weeks ago hardly drained away-, the present one is likely to linger, the ground being already so sodden. The. latest downpour, 4.48 in., 's not the heaviest fall. Last night Beacon Hill gauge recorded C.lsin.