THE, LATE DISASTROUS FLOOD.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1105, 12 February 1872, Page 2

THE, LATE DIS ASTROUS FLOOD.

GREYMOTJTH.

The more serious results of the flood of Thursday and Friday last, so far as the town of Greyaiouth is concerned) have already been somewhat fully described in ;our columns. The record ; which we haye, given might, no doubV be vastly . extended, but it is almost needless to .enter' : more elaborately into details of a disaster which may at once be said to have been general arid all-prevalent. During the. short.interyal. which has elapsed since the ■subsidence of "the flood some active measures have been taken to remedy, the evil. . which ispast, and.to prejent;the r ,re. currence of similar: evils <iri future, and the steps thus taken will be found recorded'in other parts of bur present issue/ individual sufferers have been a i mu l. taneously busy in putting their inundated houses in ofder, and in restoring the' immediate surroundings of their domiciles to something, .like their, ordinary appear^ ance, but the" restoratibn . of the town to anything like its former aspect, in many minute particulars, .must <be. a.work.of time and patience. People, indeed,' have scarcely :had time as yet to/recoyer, from the sudden interruption to all business which'theiflood produced, andj as Sunday intervened, the disposition, has simply been, apart from the proper duties; of the day, to inspect the effects of the inundation, and to listen to. such details of disasters elsewhere as have been brought by visitors from the country.. ■ : :•■ •;.;;:■■.'■■..- '■"-. Beginning at the lower end of the townj • it is obvious that the. portion of the Government township which was preserved is in an extremely critical- position." The river-bank is only a few feet from some of the door- ways, and, according to soundings taken yesterday morning, there is a depth at low-water Of "from seventeen to feet where the roadway and protective,' ' works formerly • stood. At . the upper end of the town, though there has not been ,'the same encroachment; there cannot be said to be, even theVserablance of protection .', from future floods, "but the drifting down of vast slices of the shinglebank which blocked the Gorge will, at least, haye, the effect of preventing any encroachment while the river remains at its ordinary/level.; Of. the accidents a* this po ; *\t we should mention, by the wayj. thei removal by .the; flood of the ; standards which supported the punt-wire, and of the consequent interruption of the punt traffic. The wire,*: however, has been saved, Qver all the ground immediately; beyond the Gorge— on the Race-course on the one side and on Coal Creek flat 1 on the other— the water, backed up by the cliffs which compose the Gorge, was four feet higher than has been known on the occasion of any previousflpod, covering even the rail of the new bridge at Coal Creek.' Oh the flat ' ' the settlers suffered some slight loss of live stock', 1 but on the other aide of the river the loss was more serious. Mr Bradley only saved -some of his st)ck with the iutraost difficulty,: and yesterday some fifteen head; of, his cattle were missing. Eight of these have, been found dead, and seven head are still unaccounted for. Further up the fiver the, camps of the road-parties were- surrounded, - but. .they*, suffered nothing beyond A the tempora;/ inconvenience. *' AY an indication' of the height to which the; river rose in theic vicinity ■arid further up, it is stated that the river, rose twenty-four feet, but beyond the Brnnner-town Gorge the rise could scarcely have been less than three times, that height. . The works at the Coal Mine have; suffered seriously. The coal-shoots and much other material were carried away bodily, arid the loss cannot be estimated at less than six or seven hundred pounds. Temporary provision will bje made for carrying on the work of the miue, and' as the facts hive already bean communicated by "Mr Dent to the Nelson Government, with recommendations as to what is required, it! is to be hoped they will at once undertake the • necessary , works. Considerable expenditure will also be involved on the Nelson side of ;,the river, in the restoration of roads and tracks. ;From the^TwelveiMile seriousaocounts have been received, l^ The only places left standing, it is said,, are Mr George Bidgbod's CommerciaUHotel, and Mr Wat- k

store. Mallby's store was undermined^ and overturned, and the owner has lost ite contents, besides horses and ),dairy^cowSji|jMr W. Campbell also lost store, stockj-and hoises, and Mr M'Kenna has had his crop and even the land upon which it stood washed away, the deep waterbeing now close to his house and^ ■breweryy wfierb^if w 'saidf'lie'-^SSf^lfliF*? family took shelter; all Thursday night in? the brewing vat.' -'• "" : --^ ..••• ? From Camptown wje • ha,ye not, yet hady any definite accbuhts, but it is s£*te2t that""' the fears entertained as to the probable , losses of Mr Muir and others have not I been realised. ; , A party of Chinamen who, it was feared, would be drowned in a camp which they had chosen on an island fortunately escaped. They succeeded, it is, said, in obtaining some old boat which; i they patched up . sufficiently : to .■ enable; , them to reach the proper-beach- of theriver, and they were yesterday seen on their way down to town; ' . r ! We subjoin particulars of the disaster : further inland, as furnished by our.npcountry correspondent. .•/:: -?»!':'-?;-■''