HEAVY RAINS AT AUCKLAND.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 7, Issue 366, 9 April 1866, Page 3

HEAVY RAINS AT AUCKLAND.

Tfli”Eeaviest fall of rain ■mfhirf 'a given time whicfk" has occurred within-, th#* jnemoryy of the oldesT settlers in Auckland, was that of yesterday afternooi£^k^rain.i£oaiustesa, d falUtfgfifitoaßteflat tjro in the afternoon, and three hour's r an 4 a-Eaff to' pout-'dowiT-iii 'perfect torreuts,.6vgeepipg, along. QueeiVafreetVih a. flood fr<?uj*Wellesley-slreetV tcL lhe„wharf > which! would bajA floated a canoe, .Tf this had beenVtb'd orily consequence of such a rain-fall there would hava'heetf nogrttaf' reasoib for regret, for fqt previously a considerably fine weather, and. tlie Reeded* flashing. We t regret, however, -that- a very 7considerable amount. ot’damage’has : been-.occasionod %%$ flooding of the basemenf stories of tEpshops" jagfe stqrys pn (B[ther. side of Queenjstreet, . These »grg a used in some cases as kitchens, in others zawiratc hdusptoy thy "storing'. of n umber aof instances they wererfilfed with, water . totftecjiUugs^-f the shop.slupo'n .the. level being flooded 16 the height Of several inches, and income of the older buildings, built before.. tMB street win raised,-toWi ininy fe'et. *‘ 1!i sej; r in. came rushing from all sides into Queen-street,.. them, : a»-usual,-a scoria ash- and other debris.- The -Usual' cbdseT wed; - - -Thd 'gi'atirigs itt r tße becamo choked and 'the Water, insteadbf finding its way -tihto -the main sewer,- which, with the assiefcance-of-the surface gutter,'could have easily carried « off the flood; poured in a wolume 'down' the *treet,“ enteringthe ; coHars-arid'the firstflopfeii -Tt:-would -be difficult. as yet to ! damage demo. ■ (Last might the streets were busy* as though .’h Are* had occurred, thy several engines being;, employed' hr 'pumping; out tho'basement etdriCs-of -first-oris and the'-another merchant’s* warehouse.-- - iSpmemA the greatest losses’are those which have occurred'ambn^t -thyWarehonses'itt ‘ Lower Queen-street. The flood “from WeUesley-streetdown-to -Wyßdhara-strect.~on'the,: ■western .'-side, and- then shbdtirig across- Queens street'.ran; along ■ ‘the;eastern - pavement ini’ • a l flo6d knqe-deepy and-'hacking’ some’distanceUp SKirt-;’ landijtreetqtpured dowathe wliole Width of tMrW Queen-street'to • tile wharfruThy bbseteent storei' beiow-the street level on either lees 'filled, ‘.some entirely 'so,’ arid we learif ; very-’ldfge Amount “of igobtls -inthe cellars 'bf MbssrS'Lewis Brothers under wafer till lafo in the evening when the engines were set-to-work.*’ e 1 of the street, 'Mr 'j,SMacfarlane hada nirrDW'escape.'*' He had a very large - quantity of Sugar'warehoused in, his haso-V menV'storey but some few j feit ‘aijoVe; the flodr; reabh'ed r wilhin f thfoo'infehcs 6f th&~ lower tier'of tho' hagsj of kugarr" Mga’srs' Owen, and Graham, - upon the other side of the other'side of the. street, were lesa 'fortunate.' ,jn,. their, ifbri, store, at the rear of’the' excavations now ma’de' for their now buildings, they had stored, it is said, bdMiiig td .height ; bf eight,, fe6t; A : Urge -portfafa of ’fhe sugar has 1 doubtleSs took .placed;The ; stre.etygptter - in t fron,t2of .}he * pavement-oppoßito- the excavation for the new waSbJocslfledsUp pith building materials, 1 anAftidara bmsjg-ihus formed, the water found iw way.iintQ;.the .cycavationi and, .workingrjtsL-way-rooncLby tbejrear, flooded the, basement storey of every store between there and the wharf. Air .are . jsorryJto say r had -a -. of .of YalpaEle goods "stored in his, ceila%i‘tyfilcli, thoiigli 'not all “of them perishable’ articles] Wfil'of doUrse’bymofo'or less damagedr MT' CoplahS, of the Waitemats Hotel, ha l d his' celiafs' arid "kitchen .flooded to* the"ceilings,’, and so' Indeed, had 'all*,below Messrs Owen ‘And Graham's flew "bhildijhg.' The'pretttisfis' of Afessrs pere'for a’copdiderable period mdrb.thaff tVrb feet under fvater.V. * ' J ’’ . ' " Higher lip Queen-street, on the south side' of Wellesley-stfeeti id h right' angle ‘formed by the juiictioif .qf that’ street With 'Queen-street, The, embankment' , fcaused' i 'by the' formktlqh- of these’ stress, formed , a dam which rapidl/’fllled with wafer frbih the higher’ ground afthe rear, until sqnie 16 feet in depth, jt reached the level of these streets it -the angle. '‘ThetV the' hduses dammed' it up siill'' higher,‘tilh it bbrsfc through the doors and windows' of the first .floor,; finding its way through; the 'buildings i'rito Que'en-strce!:,.“'aria leaving’thVbasoment stories filled’ to the ceilings, arid a data in the'rear'of the'premises seme 15 feet iti depth. ■' - .v At the foot of Shorlland-street a considerable damage was'dono, the Water flooding the shops to' a f6ot or eighteen inches iri‘ depth., The pavement in’front of the' Q.C.E-. fell in and damage to the building “has been 'ihchrred to the extent of Some £200.. ‘ ;; “ : ' In Erebman’s Bay the water rose to a consider-able-height. The water]' which conies down the gidly that crosses Wellingtpn and' JNapier-streets, arid is" supposed to find its. way out .by the culvert at; the foot of Franklin-street and'that' which passes under Franklin-street, into the “ Swindle,” unable to'escape by these means was dammed up in the low ground within the angle formed by Drake and Franklin-streets until it reached their level, bottle' sixfieit in height,'when-it' found its way in a wide stream considerably more than knee-deep across Drake-street, and, bursting out a portion of the seawalh-ettiptiea' itself into the bay. The wftter reached half way up the windows paling foncea of the allotments at the .rear were betew-thMurfeee of*ihe:wat€r.,.-r