SERIOUS FLOODS AT NELSON.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1254, 6 August 1872, Page 2

SERIOUS FLOOD S AT NELSON.

Last week a flood of greater magnitude than has ever been known before occurred ; at Motueka, laying the whole of the Pangatotara, Wakarewa; and a large, portion of the Motueka district under ;water. The damage done at the first-mentioned places was veiy great, acres and acres of land being carried away, good farm : lands converted into shingle beds, crops washed^ out of the ground, and fences destroyed-! in every direction. About 20 tons-; of potatoes, and several-tons of carrots were; also carried downy.by. ths torrent, and: sotre of the residents had to get up to the: hit^hest part of their houses, and> to removed from thence in boats. On Wednesday, says the Mail, when the flood was at i*3 highest, George Harding, a settler at Pokaroro, left his house in company with a digger on a raft made of sluiceboxes, with the intention of getting a canoe to rescue his family, and while crossing the creek at the back of his house, the raft capsized, and -they were both thrown into the 1 water, but managed shortly to regain the raft, when a large log which was floating down the creek struck it, and sent it close in to.an island oii whichsome trees were Rowing, *6nb oi which the digger contrived to lay hold of, but poor Harding wis notfso fortunate, and, having lost his hold of the raft, was carried down the river, his companion meanwhile,. being., left in his dangerous predicament for six hours before assistance reached him. The news reached Motueka on Friday afternoon, and a search party was at once instituted who never ceased their efforts until; Sunday afternoon, when they found Hw-drng's body almost buried in the sand about ten miles below his house. He leaves a widow, one child, and an aged father, who, in addition to this heavy bereavement, have lost two head of cattle, sixteen pigs, a number of sheep, and a quantity of their crops. The house in which they were living, within a short time of their being rescued, fell over on its side, fortunately, however, without very much damaging any of its con ents. A correspondent of the Colonist writes from Lower Wakefield, on Friday last, as f ollbws I—During the past few tiays Waimea South has again been visited by a most disastrous flood. So large a volume of water in the river has neyer. been known before, but so much havoc has been done to its sides, that in some places a sheet of water of over 150 yards wide was coursing down with a rapid's violence. Incalculable damage has been done ; owners of property have stood and seen their land, washed away by the chain. Fencing that stood, as was thought at the time, a safe distance from the edge, may now be found floating about Blind Bay. The s.p§ne in the neighborhood of the river is truly lamentable, independent of the loss of land sustained, the bridges have suffered severely in the ., overflow, and the southern approach to the Foxhill bridge is gone, although not. so much damage is done as was at first apprehended. The channel is . so deep on the southern side, that a perpendicular bank has precluded Holder's coach from crossing, but attempts will be made, by sloping this bank, to try .if the coach can pursue its running/ ; AA>out one*thifd pf :th,e foot i bridge at tHe foot of Pigeon Valley is gwept away, -and from what; is known, ~-*M3«^O|— uryvf wjw**— -xrf — vis?* — Vrlvlgv — -1 vw^»*»q— <*^ Waimea West is also gone, So much damage effected by one flood has never been done by any two before.