Northland Iso

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 141, 1 July 1937, Page 5

Northland Iso

) -i'resa Association.) I

fl00ds & slip$ 'Uu . Acting-Prime Ministe^ Marooned RAILWAYS BL0CKED\ \

(By Telegraph-

WHANGAREI, This Day. \ A rainfall of 6.72 inches, coming aV the end of nine days of wet weather1^ Caused fiood conditions at Whangarei; this morniug. The town, isolated owing 'to fioods closing the railway and roadSj enjoys the distinction of being ihe capital of the Dominion for the timo being as the acting-Prime Minister, the Hqn. Peter Fraser and his party are isolated here. Low-lyin^ strOets in the business and residential areas are flooded, and shops and hous ;s have' been m" aded. Those who suffered most were the occtipiers of a, block of buildings At the corner of Bank and Manse streets> which caught the great inass of water •sweeping 'ddfrn from Hie hi'gher levels-. The Water there reached a depth Of several feet. The Regient Theatre and ' adjacent shops are affOcted. The flooding in the main business atea is not so extehsive as on the last occasion, but it is estimated that, had the tide been in, many thousaiids of pounds of damage would have been done.. Whangarei'® rainfall for the past nine days reads like a cricket score, the total being 16.-24 inches. The total for the month was 18.40, a record for the past 15 years. Northland is to-day cut off from the l-est of New -Zealand hy rail. From Maungaturoto to the northern railhead the line is blocked by slips, floodWatets and Washouts, and it will be some time before commufiiciation, is fully re-established-. The biggest slip, between Waiotira and ,and Tauraroa, has buried the line to a. depth of 40 i'eet. For a distance of 60 feet to the north of Whangarei there is a long succession of slips and washouts. The most severe of the latter is at Hikurangi. All low-lying parts of the line are under water, in some places to a depth of six feet. No trains are runtiing north Of Kaipata flats to-day.; and the time when communication will he restored depends entirely on the weather. ^ (Earlier messages appear on page