SUDDEN FLOOD IN MELBOURNE.

Grey River Argus, Issue 625, 20 January 1870, Page 3

SUDDEN FLOOD IN MELBOURNE.

[age.] A violent thunderstorm passed over the city at iiva o'clock on Monday afternoon, the 3rd instant, accompanied by a heavy fall of rain, with which Elizabeth street was flooded very quickly. In about twenty minutes after the storm commenced, the water rose to a height which has not been reached for the last year or two, the footpath on the east side, between Collins street and Little Collins street, being covered to the depth of about eighteen inches. The shopkeepers, forewarned by former visitations of the kind, smartly put up their door panels when the waters began to rise, and some of them set to work busily in stopping up interstices with tow, by which the flood was dyked out safely. S umbers of rats were flooded out of the side drains and drowned ; some of the bridges over the gutters were washed away ; in numerous places the road metal was washed up, and blocked the watercourses, and where A'Beckett intersects Elizabeth street, the footpath for some distance was covered with about six inches of fine road metal. A complete stoppage to the foot traffic occurred for sometime, during which the cabs were busily engagedinremovingtheflooded out pedestrians. Once or twice a foolhardy person attempted to cross the rushing torrent, aud one man was saved from more than a ducking by a constable dragging him on to the pavement as he was being carried away. Two lads had a narrow escape -from being drowned through attempting to cross Elizabeth street near Lonsdale street. They had tucked up their trousers and in great glee entered the water, but the force of the stream at once took them off their feet, and but for the praiseworthy exeriions of three or four individuals who witnessed the young urchins' daring, they might have lost their lives. In Swanston street a horse was forced by the waters r gainst a cab. The horse broke one of its legs, and had to be killed. Another horse was drowned. In the lower portions of Qollingwood and Richmond considerable damage was done by the water, and several narrow escapes from serious accidents took place. A most noticeable feature before the storm broke was the extreme lowness of the clouds ; in East Melbourne the chimney stacks of a whole row of two-storey houses were completely enveloped and hidden as the clouds passed along. The rain after ceasing for about a couple of hours commenced again, and through the night it fell heavily. Considerable damage has been done to the streets, the roads being washed bare and the gutters filled Tip with a dark sand from the macadmised stone. This is particularly noticeable in the outskirts of the town. The swamps between Emerald hill and Sandridge, and at the St Kjlda Park and the beach side of the St. Kilda railway were flooded as in the winter. Such a sudden and enormous fall of rain has not occurred in tho colony for many a long day. From o\ir telegrams it will be perceived that the storm has \ been general.