THE WEATHER.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 April 1920, Page 3

THE WEATHER.

— «•> - % - A PROLONGED DOWNPOUR. Saturday was a wet day, but as night 1 approached the weather got ..’orse and from nightfall onwards there was one long continuous downpour that continued all day Sunday, and had not finished this morning, though the fierceness of the downpour had diminished. v There was an absence of heavy, wind, though a northerly blew, making the steadiness of the downpour more noticeable. It was remarkably heavy, and as a result the river came down in heavy flood and the low lying portions of the town were flooded. A blocked drain in the vicinity of Weld and Tancred streets corner wrs the cause of a. special inundation in that, locality. Bealey Street drain in its upper reaches again overflowed, and there was a regular river running down Hampden Street all yesterday afternoon and night from this cause, the roadway being badly cut up. The river last night was running a regular banker and continues in high flood this morning. An unusual incident happened in the river yesterday A large tree, about three feet in diameter came down in the flood waters and struck the piling of one of the bridge piers, root on. There it stuck and it still lays there with the branches straight up stream and the butt out of water, jambed into the. piles. Much flood .damage is being reoortcd to-day

The Borough water supply w.- cut off yesterday afternoon as the result of a washout of the approach to a bridge the other side of Kanieri Forks which caused, the pipes to break asunder. It will he noted in the meteorological record in this issue that Sat irdav’s. rainfall to 9 a.m. yesterday was 2.81 inches and yesterday’s to 9 a.m. to-day 8.16 inches, a grant total of 10.9" inches —some rain surely. Yesterday’s fall is surely a record one. The heavy rainfall for the past 40 hours has naturally caused a considerable flood in most parts of the district. Within the period of the rainfall, nearly a foot of water has fallen, and the flood in consequence has been general. Fortunately the damage so far reported has not been as great as might be expected under the circumstances. Hokitika appears to l>e the limit of the more serious damage north, as enquiry from Arahura and Teriwhate this morning indicated that while there was unsteady rainfall, there was not any abnormal flood. In the area of the Hokitika river, the flood damage has been fairly substantial. Last night reports came to hand that the Kanieri Lake road had suffered. There is a large slip near Me- ; Kay’s creek which blocks traffic, and . will take three or four days to clear, j The bridge on this road above 'he I Forks, crossing the Kanieri river, hasbeen damaged a.lko. The fih'st... span i on the south side carried away, two piles going down stream, and as the Borough water supply from Lake Tvameri erovies j the river by this bridge, the pipe line : went also, and the Borough supply was ! therefore ctit off- The Borough staff went up early this morning to endeavour to restore the connection. The j loss of the bridge will interrupt vehicle traffic to the lake for some little time. As soon as the river falls a ford will be made, and rendered as passable a,s possible. The County Council which sits to-morrow will deal with the restoration of this bridge, which, of course, is an urgent work and will no doubt take precedence In the Kokatalii district the approach to Graham’s Creek was washed out, and traffic is interrupted. As soon ns the creek falls, a ford will bo easily negotiable. On Kokatahi-Ford road a culvert lias l»‘en washed out near Kelly’s and other minor damage reported. Reports from tli£ south are. as yet very meagre. Anxiety is felt for the condition of affairs at Inter-Wanganui, ! where the Little Wanganui lias been a source of threatening danger. Reports available last night showed that , the river had badly overflowed again, ' and a large quantity of water was pouring over the high ground into the swamp lands which feed La Fontaine Creek. The low country all round was inun- ' dated, and on the Main South road from the Pines towards Hari Hari, there was a wide-stretching lake, and this water in turn would flood the country - lower down in the direction of Herepo and La Fontaine through which the stream flowed. f Later accounts indicate that the recent protection work put in by the Public Works Department was holding, but the river was making a cut in higher up the river at the willows, and was' j threatening very seriously Messrs Fer- j guson Bros homestead. The river was within but- a few chains of the residence, the fruit garden being invaded already. The outlook for the property wore a- rather serious aspect. This appears to -be the worst recorded damage in the south, and the menace will con tinue till definite steps are taken to cope with the main body of water higher up the stream. Instructions in regard to the work were issued last week, and a start was to be made to-day with the construction of the north groin which is ultimately to form tile approach to the Little Wanganui bridge site. It is believed that this work will have the best effect in controlling the river and keeping the stream in its main, or central channel, thus saving the hanks from further erosion. The road approach to the bridge side to lie carried up the north river bank, will form a stop-bank to further overflow affecting Ferguson Bros’., but this full work will take some time to construct. Tlie trains on the Hokitika-Grey-innutli railway line were held up for several hours, as the result of a wasliou* of the approach to the Kapitoa Creek bridge. The inward morning train 1c Hokitika did not arrive till about 11.30 a.m., the 10 a.m. train outwards being cancelled.