THE FLOODS AT GREYMOUTH.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1257, 24 February 1872, Page 2

THE FLOODS AT GREYMOUTH.

The full report of the recent floods at Greymouth occupies about four columns of the Grey River Argus of the 10th inst. The following extracts *■ ill give some idea of the damage done:. — From Johnston-street seaward the entire line of buildings; fronting %}ie, river has disappeared, and the buildings, immediately behind the front row, including Strike <fe Blackmpre : s brewery, are left in a situation of considerable danger on the occasion of any futme floods. With the building* went the. protective works, and the lower part of the town presents altogether a sorry spectacle. As. if the flood were not a sufficiently serious disaster of itself, a fire broke out in the same block, and although it fortunately did not spread,, there was seen the rare sight of burning buildings tumbling into the turbid waters and floating ojut to sea,. And fire was not the only companion, of the. flood,. Fears are entertained that it was accompanied by loss of life, but there is no definite knowledge of more, than one fatal accident. From a house which floated away, containing one en-, tiro family, one young person, a son, of William Dale, was washed away by the flood and drowned, the other members, of the family narrowly escaping a similar fate. . . The rain resulting in this heavy flood began to fall on Wednesday, and 1 during all that night it fell so constantly that many feared the occurrence of an unusual fresh, but nothing more. Expectation was excited as the rain, continued throughout Thursday, but the suddenness and extent of the flood, exceeded all expectations. Towards, afternoon the waters rase rapidly, and some time before dusk they had. overflown the protective works, and were streaming into the back parts of the town by ail the cross streets. Before this time precautions had been taken by the Mayer and others to warn theinhabitants of all the outlying parts, and to remove all families who, desiied to be removed. Towards dusk the number of emigrants from these parts increased, and all the principal hotels became crowded with family groups and their household goods. As the rivers, reached the level of the protective works, and streamed along the streets, si ore-keepers busied themseles in erecting inaeniouslv contrived barricades at their front doors, and these for the time serviceable in preventing ihe influx of the muddy water until goods -were raised from the fioots, but subsequently all buildings were more or less flooded, and householders and storekeepers patiently waited, knee-deep in water, for the subsidence of the flood The risk to property was first most imminent at 10 o'clock on Thursday night, and the locality where the danger was concentrated was between Boundary-street and the European Hotel. Not only were the protective works at this point insecure, but an immense gathering ftf snags and of timber intended for the repair of Ihe works accumulated in front of the houses, and began to act as, battering rams against the flimsy fronts. Even at that hour the appearances here

were really alarming, the creaking of the houses, and the collapse of the verandahs, indicating the immense pressure before which the buildings ultimately succumbed. Indicative of danger as the appearances were, most people continued to occupy their houses, though warning had been given, and boats engaged for their removal, and the wonder is that, when the crash came, several lives were not lost. As it was, there were some narrow escapes, and a few persons were in very critical posi tions before they were saved by boats. There is a story of one man having been seen on the roof of a house, as it was washed out to sea, but there is no certainty that such was the case. It is true that Mr George Saddler, of the Reefton express, floated down the stream for some distance on one of the buildings, but, at some risk, he reached the shore. Fortunately the floating away of the houses did not occur till daylight, otherwise the loss of property could scarcely have failed to have been accompanied by considerable loss of life. The following is a list of the buildings washed away : —From Jobnston-st. to Arney street —Anilines Golden Age Hotel; Hiidebrand and Weber, butchers; Hicks, fruiterer; two-storey building, occupied by Mrs Anderson; Joyce's old stoie; Foxcroft, tinsmith; Enniskillen Hotel; old Australian Hotel; building, occupier unknown ; Gieskin, store; Ship Hotel, two shops, cottage, Cove of Cork Hotel. Arney-st. to Chapman-street —Alcorn's old store, occupied a* a dwelling house; private dwelling house, Mou tray's bakery, WhitriiOie's cordial manufactory and private dwelling, Muller's European Hotel; two cottages, and five small dwelling-houses ; boat shed, aud couple of cottages adjoining; powder magazine Arney-street—-Dale's cottage, and house adjoining Mat tin's stable. Up country, too, the flood is described as having been tremendous. Our contemporary says :—The ri\ ers and creeks began to rise above the level of .ordinary floods at mid-day on Thursday, and by dark the Afaaura was higher .than it was ever known to be. The ,oldest and highest flood marks were washed away, and the river still rising when daylight disappeared. The island near Ahaura, on which Mr Gough's new house is built, was under and for hours the people camped .on.it, as well as Mr Gough and his family at the ferry, were in great danger. The river broke through atMr M'Lean's house, and rushed down the road towards the landing with the rapidity of a mill race. All the low lying country -was submerged, and great fears are entertained for the safety ot the Old Ahaura, the foot of Nelson Creek, Camptown, and the Twelve-mile. The residents of Camptown were in an especially perilous position, because the Grey River has been continually eating its way in that direction during all the late floods. The fanners would sufler greatly, as the harvest work was generally going on, and great quantities of produce were lying on the ground exposed to the soddening effects of the fearful downpour of rain. Great damage is reported from HalfOunce to flumes and water races, and from the swamping out of claims. One life has been lost at Doner Creek from the effect* of a landslip, and a serious accident happened at Noble's from a similar cause. It is feared that the township at the Little Grey Junction will have disappeared, as the last flood made considerable encroachments there.