AFTER THE STORM.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5305, 27 July 1928, Page 2

AFTER THE STORM.

CONDITIONS AROUND PAEROA.

FLOOD-WATERS RECEDING.

Following on the torrential rain of Monday an,d Tuesday, Wednesday dawned fine and with a rising barometer, and bright, sunshine prevailed throughout the day. Such conditions did much towards relieving the flood areas and putting people; in a better heart.

Even yet it is difficult to 'estimate the amount of damage that has occurred 1 . Many people oil, Wednes;day morning were up at daybreak and climbed to the top of Primrose Hill or other, vantage points in tlie borough to view the flood. Almost as far as the eye could see flood-water covered the! countryside on the lower levels, and a unique sight was; presented.

During Wednesday morning communication by road and railway with Auckland, the Waikato, and Waihi was not possible on account of washouts, slips, and the depth of floodwater. On Wednesday afternoon a light ~ train reached Pabroa from Wailii, and; yesterday the usual service was maintained. A number of motor-cars got from Paeroa to Waihi late on Wednesday afternpon l . So far as can be ascertained', the flooding of the Ohinemuri River has not caused any serious, damage. Before mid-day on Wednesday it began to recede appreciably, and with the lowering of the depth, flood-gates at various points commenced to function',, and it was astounding the rapidity with which the wafer, which was previously locked in, got away. On the Paei'oa-Waihi road, in the vicinity of Mr G. Buchanan’s property, the skirling mass of flood-water which blocked all wheeled traffic was almost clear by early afternoon, and motorcars were able to pass through. Conditions were not so favourable at the' Puke, and well on, into Wednesday afternoon the landlocked water was still rising and the; .Waihou River was. running bank high. Puke Road was covered with water for. a considerable distance but motor traffic could negotiate the flood.

From measurements taken at the Puke the flood was at least on'e foot higlien than; on any previous occagibn. Despite the fact that goods and chattels in the Northern Steam Ship Company’'- office and shed on the N'gahina wharf were placed nearly three feet above; previous flood levels, the invading water reached them, flooding the shed to a depth, of oven five feet, and manure, cement, and goods were damaged. During the afternoon tlie steamer. Taniwha berthed near tlie wharf, a/id a start was .made to unload cargo, of which there was 170 tons, into barges.

Yesterday the flood-gates were functioning, and the surface water from the hills which caused the flooding of low-lying areas was able to get away slowly.

BREAK IN STOP-BANK.

A scene of devastation was presented ill the Rotokohu district, ai;d particularly from the Paeroa e'de of Mill Road through to beyond Cadman Road, whore the country, comprising approximately 3000 acres on either side of the railway line', was inundated to a considerable' depth. A’ visit- to Mill Road yesterday proved most interesting from the point of view of a sightseer. All the low-lying land on the farms was submerged, and settlers were; to be seen rescuing sto,ck and, where possible, carting food to the animals. It is not anticipated that many head of cattle were; drowned, but several settlers had pigs eitlien dirowned or died from exhaustion after swimming. Farmers in that loca’l'ity state; that there lias never been such a flood. A tremendous volume of water came down from the Rotokohu gorge; and, being unable to escape quickly enough, Spread out across; country on the eastern; side of the railway line, The. right stop-bank on th© Waihou River near Cadman Road 1 broke away for a- distance of about four chains on Wednesday afternoon 1 , and the' flood-waters made across-country, covering the intervening land. Owing to the heavy fog which prevailed uiijtil about mid-day yesterday, the appearance of the sea of water: was unique, and a sight never to be forgotten.

The river also broke through the high country beyond the stop-bank near, Mr G. Thorne-Gein,age’s property and spread over a fairly extensive area. Some anxiety Svas felt for tlie safety of Mr A. McKinnon; and his aged mother, who live n,ea.r the' main toad about half a mile from Cadman Road. So far as could be seen through the fog from the railway line the water appeared; to have entered the house. It. was not possible to reach the marooned s,©ttlers on horse-back, so a boat was requisition-, cd from the Public Works. Department, canted from the' Puke on a motor lorry, and launched on the flooded roadway near Mr North’s fai'an. A party of three mein tlieii got aboard and rowed to Mr McKinnon’s house. On arrival it was found that the water had not entered th’e dwelling, and what might have been a. dramatic rescue failed for the reason that Mr McKinnon said there, was plenty of food in the hou s e, and he saw no need for abandoning it, an,d assured the party that he preferred to remain where he. was.

With the functioning of the flood* gate at Cooper's drain, near Hill Road, and the three-barrel floodgate at the Kaouiti Stream, the water commenced to recede slightly at mid-day yesterday. THE WATER SUPPLY.

The water rgticulatton has been in a precarious state since Tuesday, and for hours at a time on, Wednesday and yesterday the supply was practically nil. The Ohinemurj county engineeij (Mr L. E. Shaw) has had an arduous time tracing the fault, Yesterday afternoon it w.as found tliat a blockage; had occurred in the reservoir at the mouth ’of the main, pipe line. Once the fault was detected no time wag lost in making an attempt to restore' the service, in the meantime a cliange*ov©r wfis made to

the auxiliary dam,- and this source supplied consumers from Wednesday night until mid-day yesterday, when the supply again, failed for several hours on account of the consumption of water being greater, than the capacity of the small dam. A large gang of men worked throughout yesterday, .and their task was not an enviable one. The water in the dam had to be lowered as far as possilbe to enable the debris on the floor of the reservoir, amounting to hundreds of yards of .clav, metal, and rubbish, to be cleared from around the, filtejj; crates npar the main outlet. There is still too much w,a.te;r in the reservoir to enable a penmanent job to be made, but in the meantime consumers n'eed have no Tear on the score of shn.rtage of water again, as it is n.ot anticipated that there will be further serious interruptions in the'Service. RAIL SERVICE RESTORED. Since Tuesday the railway co.niiniinicatibns between Tauranga, Paeroa, the WaUtato, and Auckland have been completely disorganised on account of slips on the line, and washouts. The flood caused considerable trouble between Tii'ohia an/l Wa.itoki on the Paeroa-Waikato line, and at Karangahake, Waikino, and Omokoroa on the Paeroa-Taiiranga, section. Large relief gangs were assembled at the various centres, and unden the direction of the; assistant district engineer (Mr W. J. Langbein), N.Z. Railways, Auckland, no effort was spared to effect repairs and restore the services. In some, parts operations were considerably hampered by the depth of water.’ Favoured with flue, weather in the district following on the storm good progress was made, .and a heavy train got through to Auckland f r om Paeroa, Ins.t night, bo big the first one since; Tuesday. The service between Tauranga and Paeroa- was restored yesterday morning, and on making inquiries from the local stationmaster (M‘n H. Simmonds) he' stated that, all were back to normal this morning, and the usual time-table would be adhered! to. Considerable congestion has occurred at Waihi, Paeroa, and Frankton Junction owing to the 'interruptions to the service, and also to the, fact that traffic by road lias been blocked, The “wild-cat” from Frankton, to Paeroa. had' two engines last night, and brought 700 tons of coal and goods, and the first train to Tauranga this morning required two engines to pull the load. It 's expected to be some days before the congestion, of gooefe will be. believed. STOP-BANK OPENED. . After viewing tlhe flooded areas in the Tirohia-R’otokohu district, caused by the stop-bank, near Ca.dman Road breaking away, the resident engineer (Mr O. G. Thornton) gave instructions yesterday for an opening in; the stop-bank on the left bank of the Oliinemuri River near the junction with the Waihou River to be made. Accordingly, yesterday afternoon a gap about half a chain wide was made by means of explosives about ten chain,s down stream from the Rotokohu flood-gate. ■ By means of this opening the .work of the floodgates has been expedited, and a raging torrent of flood-water is now pouring through the gap. Measurements taken by the. department show that since the gap was made yesterday the flood-waters have receded a.foot. It is the intention of the department to reconstruct the; stop-ba.uk near Cadman Road by means of a drag-line dredge as soon as the Waihou River recedes sufficiently to enable the machine to be; worked. The main road from Paeroa. to Te Aroha is still blocked to vehicular traffic. Tlie farmers on Mill, Cadman, and Ryall roads area have experienced a trying time during the la,st 48 hours, and although the loss of stock has' not been heavy, the greatest difficulty is being found in feeding the cattle and pigs .and keeping them alive.