BIG FLOODS.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 March 1924, Page 1

BIG FLOODS.

IN HAWICK'S BAY. POSITION LAST NIGHT SERIOUS. n S' TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSN'., COPYRIGHT. NAPIER. -March 11. All the rivers in Hawke’s Bay are now rising rapidly. There arc serious floods thic»tened. The Ksk Valley is covered with water from the hills, and most of the settlers are in a precarious plight. Rain is still falling heavily. The Tatipo Road is completely blocked. The Alain South Road remains open. Pi INCHES OF RAIN IN S HOURS. ! LOSS OF LIFE. NAPIER, -March 11 The very heavy rain in Napier am! districts to-day caused the loss of human life and stock and much damage to ] property. In Napier nine and a half inches of ; rain tell from 9 a.in. tu -5 p.m.. and m 1 rale place in the country, l(i inches lull, i Napier streets at times were Hooded, j and water got into some shops. ; A fall of earth on Shakespeare Road | smashed in the rear ol a house, and . moved the whole of the building six I fret forward. A child, aged about two years, was caught in the house, and lias not been recovered. There is no hope of its being alivc.es Thomas Hill, an employee at the railway works at AVaipunga. was drowned. I T e rapidly rising Ksk River carried j him away in his hut, and the body has j not been recovered. The Tutf.okitri river broke its banks j and Greenmeadows. and Taradale are i flooded. Rescue parties are out with lifeboats taking muinutted settlers to places of safety. The losses of stock are heavy hut the information is not definite, owing to the telephone wires working badly. One house moved ten chains. Territorials were in camp hut they escaped with difficulty, some having to swim out with horses. Settlers in this area are suffering similarly to those nt Taradale. Heavy rain continues. RIVERS RAPTD RISK. HASTINGS March 11. From appearances, parts of the surrounding districts here are in for a serious flood. Heavy rains in the hack country culminated in a heavy thunderstorm, with torrents of lain early today as a result of which the rivers rise rapidly. The Tutaekui'i rose with but little warning, and in two and a half hours, the water was tearing down, iso sudden was the flood that motorists had to abandon their cars on the road and take to the hills. Some familes had narriw escapes with their lives from their houses, owing to the rapid encroachment of th< river, and considerable losses of cattle and sheep are reported. In the Tuuanui district, at Sir Andrew Russel’s residence, five point fifty eight inches of rain fell Rom S a.m. to 2 p.m., which swelled Hie Ngamroro. seven miles from Hastings, but no banks are broken this side o' the river, and the Hastings district i dry.