TORRENTIAL RAIN

Hokitika Guardian, 24 January 1933, Page 5

TORRENTIAL RAIN

N. S. W. DELUGE

FATALITIES AND VAST DAMAGE (Australian Press Association) SYDNEY, January 23. Later reports indicate that the result of last night’.* rain here has been lire moiit serious for years. Hundreds of homes have been Hooded in Waterloo, Alexandria and the neighbouring suburbs.

Tlq. people awoke to find that their beds were almost awash. There was a cyclonic gale, which added to the miseries of the situation.

A number of large shop windows near the Central Railway Station ucre smashed. The tram service was delayed on many lines by the accumulated water at low-Tying spots. The railways were interrupted cm both the .Southern and Illawarra lines, the latter lme being badly affected for a distance of fifteen. to twenty miles. The Uoogee and Kensington ovuis were turned into lakes, the water entering the neighbouring houses. The Nep e an River rose fourteen feet at Penrith, 'where the water was three feet deep on the main street. Liverpool was Isolated as far as road traffic was concerned.

The coastal shipping movement# were hampered during the early hour* of to-day. The Weather Bureau warns shipping that wild weather is still to be expected •around the New South Wales coast.

toifc campers were rescued from a hooded island in the Georges River by a boat that was rushed from Liverpool on a lorry.

Many camps were washed away and the occupants spent a perilous time .awaiting daylight. One whole family were trapped in a cottage which was engulfed by a landslide at Helensburgh, a small mining town on the Illawarra Line. One boy, aged fifteen, wag smothered, the rescuers working (feverishly to save the others.

A bursting dam at Stan-well Parkis reported to have caused the death of half .a dozen persons, but details are at present unobtainable.

SEVEN DEATHS BY DROWNING

FLOOD OVERWHELMS CAMPERS

SYDNEY, January 23,

During to-day’s terrific storm, which lashed the New iSouth, Wales coast from two o'clock until dawn, seven people were drowned, while otliei-s were gallantly rescued, when flood waters rushed on the Valley at' Stanwell Park and overwhelmed the camping parties there. The dead include a father, mother anc] their three children ; and also two brothers of another family. The names of the victims a r e: — Vincent, Davis, aged 40 years; Mrs Davis, his wife, aged 38 ; and their son,s, Vincent, aged 13; Leslie, aged 9; and Jack aged 2 ; also Jack Phyllis, aged 12 yearn, .and his brother, Allen Phyllis, aged 8. Following on the torrential rain, a beach lagoon, near where the tents were erected, overflowed. Som 0 of the campers fought their way up a steep hi;] to seek (shelter at a railway station .

The Davis family and the Phvlli? brothers wer. e left marooned. Suddenly the Davis’ tent was blown down. Davis then used a rope which formed part of the tent fastenings, to tio hjs family by the wrists to a tree. The two Phyllig boys, whose camp was washed away, sought rjhelt { _.r with the Davis family, and Davis also tied them to the rest of the party. Then, strapping hi® baby, Clifford, to hi? shoulders, Davis plunged into the ■water in an attempt to reach land, fifty yards away, and thus secure h c dp. Neither he nor the baby was seen again. The force of the water wa,s go great that the rope holding the other members of the family to the tree snapped, and they were swept towards the sea. The rope 'around the girl Laurel Davis’ wrist became entangled in a fallen tree, and it' thus saved her life. Gordon Thompson, aged seventeen, made five attempts to swim thi-ougn the boiling torrent before lie nnalij dragged her -ashore. The jsland, meanwhile, became completely submerged. The body of Aim Davi s has been recovered. Two othc-r bodies have been seen in the surf.

£50,000 DAMAGE ESTIMATED. MAN KILLED BY LIGHTNING. ■SYDNEY, January 23. The .storm damage i.u the city and suburbs to homes, shipping and other property is at present inestimable, but it will probably exceed fifty thousand sterling. Two small children who were playing in a ntr.rm ‘water channel at Cantcu-bury ware i-'wrpt away by the onrush e: water. A man fully clothed, rushed iu and .brought them out. They were barely conscious. The Rand wick Racecourse h now submerged to a dentil of two feet. The Hawk- -diary River yo,<c eighty, u f(.el in eight houns. To-day tluj Richmond River settler? were -warned of th e danger of a flood. The -damage to the South Coast; railway i,-j so severe that it will he four

days before the through service can restored. A man named Headway, one or a group standing in the yard of a house at Young, was killed, and the rose m t-hei group -were knocked unconscious by lightning this morning. Very heavy rain continues in the Young district. 24 INCHES OF IRFtv tm 3 HOURS. SYDNEY, January ,23. The following are some of the -ramfall readings for the 24 hours up to 9 o’clock to-day: At Waterfall ther° fell 24 inches, largely between the hours of two ana five o’clock this morning. At Rand wick the fall was 10] inches; at Bexley 81- ; at Earl wood over 8;)- inches; and at .Mascoe 5 inches. MANY WASHOUTS. A BAD FORE^AFT. (Received th.L at 906 a.in.) -SYDNEY, January 24. Railway report.-? chow fJ xteU?‘ive damage was caused throughout the State. Mnnv services are interrupted. Brisbane mail and Glen Innes mafl are held up at Werrv’s Creek owing to washaways, the line being -swept aw-y in patches over a di-stance of «*<r-ven miles. The -State Meteorologist forecasts further heavy to flood fal's. wit.fi a danger of floods -in all coastal risers. rain continued at Sydney last nfgsr.

QUEENSLAND WELCOMES RAIN. BRISBANE, January 24. Good rains over a wide area in Queensland relieved conditions which have amounted almost to drought. The Condamine River is five feet over the railway bridge at Yandilla, and is still rising.