Hawke's Bay Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY AND THURSDAY. TUESDAY, MAY 30, 1867. HEAVY FLOODS IN HAWKE'S BAY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IX, Issue 480, 30 May 1867, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY AND THURSDAY.

TUESDAY, MAY 30, 1867. HEAVY FLOODS IN HAWKE'S BAY.

“ Xalliss adJlUuf jurare in verM

XiaVKU per!laps siuce tne colun sa; <ll 7 this portion oi' the Islands ui Aew Zealand has it bean visited wi'h a : flood of so extensive ami destructive! a character as that which we have! l»ow to record. ' Our leaders generally are aware that ior a series of years past we have had to complain of dry weather, —: sometimes of a drought of long con-; tinuauce, —bat generally of the gra | dual lessening of the muiatity of rain; exnerienced years aero, until it bad! o , iiad a marked etiect on the 1)i.,..h5,! streams, ami rivers of tiio c.iuni-y.j Uid settlers have r p..kvii of swampO winch have become dry.—of brooks 1 and streams that were regarded, as; capable of being Mr nod to proli.'abie : account, us sou.ces of mech-.i nlca!' power, ceasing to run, —of livers that i bad wonderfully decreased in volume,: so that from being deep and Ibruiidahie obstacles in the way of the traveller,! hey had become more streams easily fordable. They w<>uid also tell ns of' ■occasions when the rivers would over-: l]o\v their banks and devastate the list 1 country; bat would add, the climate! has become much chyer since that time, and account for the fuel in some, 'raeasuie by the decrease of growing! [limber, —evidently not believing that; ! such things as floods were eg tin j j to be expected. The occurrences oli | the past few days have sir vvu tiicmj their mistake, and these ot our conn i try eel lie i o who are not losers by the! jilood are fortunate indeed. 1 ! Tight days ago the tain commenced, : |«.uu for the fust four or five of them! . oe rainfall, th*h iwther heavy cud ,o inui -as. \>as ii-ii-mg very txti.vr-' ; lut Oil ii-‘ n.g.m Cl f..u:wiay . zo, tiro south-West wind winch, [had up to iliut time prevailed, gave jpiace to a strong south easier, and liJjo.seI iJjo.se who have hud experience iusuch ! matters predicted some heavy weather* 1 ' v, U .cu prediction has since been amply ’ ve> ’tied. Tue storm raged throughout I Sunday, Alouday, and the greater [ru t b.'f Tuesaay,—a vast volume of wv.i ' ■ ..iiiuousiy rushing out to sea from | the mouth of the harbor, highly dis ’colored fiom the soil held in suspen* ; siuu. So great was the lusi. tlmi ’: ’-ore was actually no inflow whatever halo h.c harbor from the rising tide, ami only about a half hour's slack at hue time, ot nign water. Durian Monday the news arrived in town of the carrying away of the bridge connecting the Aburiri plains with the beach by j the Shamrock Hotel, known as “ Tajrebu's Bridge, 5 ' and also the destrucUion by drowning of a large number of A! “pp. It was also known that the ( whole of tiie r- fiats were under

water, and much tear was tm untamed, flint life was in clanger. Ail coni- ■ uaulcation was rat ft from Meauee by tiie. fiiiml. which. in udibbm to the destruction of Tareha's Bridge, had also washed away the approaches to the larger bridge at Meunes. Tuesjdcy morning brought the report that -(three lives had been lost, but we are jhappy to say that that report has not I sen verified. However it was deemed I advisable to despatch boats to the dis- . • > u-t in ilia hope, nt bniug able to ren* ifi a y ii-.iisLuie-.- t - the inhabitants, yund.it all c-’eTits relieve t he anxiety : |ot the townsfolk. To get boats there, . I however, against the rushing water ywas no easy task, and one at least was , compelled to return, unable to accomplish the work. The boat, however, • ; : m charge of Assistant-Pilot Kraeft | was, by dint of almost superhuman | exertions, brought up to the place, I and was enabled to bring back the I information that the Surge bridge was is; ill intact, though i;s approaches were ide-.tiMyeJ; that over lOflO sheep, : principally the properly of the Koineu . d’atiio.tc MUslon, bad been drowned ;. • Timt much wire fencing had been de.siroyed and washed away, and a vast .j number of split fencing pous carried out .:io sea ; that many of the houses wer& ! more or less flooded, but that the in* ,j habitants geuerally had taken refuge,i with neighbors whose houses were | built on higher ground. By this time die violence of the wind had abated, line rain only falling in occasional ishowers, the atmosphere showing signs I of the weather hi Cubing up, and the |barometer rising. | From the Clive district we also dir-aiu of the destruction of one bridge that at the Wuhapurata nidi ; this, ■;uowever, except irom the temporary • inconvenience it will entail on travellers. is scarcely to be regretted, as it !W:;s a very ancient structure, and was- : becoming actually' dangerous. Wo believe that it was the intention of the ;Government to replace it by a more Mibsiautial and commodious structure, ;'and that the limber had boeu actually cut for this purpose. The loss of tho previously existing bridge will necessitate; the pei f-rmance of the w**rk 'somewhat eaiiier loan was anticipated. i Of ihe bridge over the Ngaruroro, J ady vece.uly liußaed and thrown open .!tu the public, we hear that, like tho ijotie at Meance, its approaches are deli sumy ed, but the structure is uninjured, i J ait no ugli its destruction was at one j time seriously llireateued by an enor* flmous quantity' of wire fencing which 'had beeu carried against it, and was /piiod up ou the upper side of it as high lior higher than the handrail. Owing I‘to the exertions of our Provincial Eug.iißer, wlm via throughout the most : I. - ■ v.' uid cf tiie si or m waicur ing for opportunities of averting threat* . e.iei damage to public works, the p wires Were severed, and the structure , ,-eved from demolition. Too much Jpuilsc cannot be awarded to Mr Weber ■ iiur ids exertions throughout. At Clive, r i Loo, we bear that much fencing was • [destroyed, ami at M aitaiigi ut tho ■ Tow.hog cf a number of sheep, tha iI property of the Messrs Parker. j On the Spit the fljod was uot nearly - i so iiig'.i as it has been several times i- before, when little or no damage was r done in the country. At high water . most of the roads were submerged, t tendering communicati a unpleasant ; • and the heavy sea had carried away e an enormous quantity of the shingle 3 : constituting the beach, leaving the y spit fronting Hardinge-road very aar* - row indeed- We do not know that - tue water has been in any house. In t the town the case was different, —the s low lying lands in the vicinity of the r swamps being completely submerged.

'waler rising in several of the, houses to a considerable height. I L- At the tis?e of this fWeJ-l ... ucsday. miuuight) the sterns is virtually past. The day has , been cold eud showery, but the sea and wind has sensibly lessened, and as the cieanng ap of the weather has been igj so gradual a character, wo may HP reasonably hopo for a continuation of 'U<- “ as weather. Such storms and goods ' ar ® happily of very rare occurrence.