AFTER THE DELUGE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5306, 30 July 1928, Page 3

AFTER THE DELUGE.

NOTES FROM THE PLAINS. WATER GETS AWAY QUICKLY. Wednesday and Thursday <|a>vned line on the Hauraki Plains, and in the bright sunshine that followed the deluge of the early par.t of the week • quickly became a, thing of the past. With amazing rapidity the accumulations of stormwater got away from parts, and by Thursday after--noon many of the dra'ns were empty. Particularly Wa s this the case in much of the area under, the control of the Hauraki United Drainage Board,. an.d wisdom of providing big outlie,ts rwas amply .demonstrated. ’ Th,& break ip the stop-bftnk on the eastern side of the Waihou River near Tirohia, "which caused the inundation of thousands of acres, proved tlie salvation of the, Hauraki land. 1 adjoining g, the river. The river, fell rapidly dur- ® iifg tiie night, and ceased flowing through tlie gap in. the stop-bank ntar C.a.i’ter.’s corner. By the middle of Thursday morning, the river had fallen suffic'.ently to allow flood-gates to operate, and by after,noo.it all outlets between Netherton and Wharepoa were pouring: water off the. land at millrace pace. By evening most of the Netherton and Turua-Netherton road districts was clear. Prion to the big break in the right bank of the Waihou River there was a small break on the Hauraki Plains - which would quickly have become. 2/1/largei' had the water, not been released Eastward. The enormous extent of the flooding about the, Te Arolia road gives a,n 'indication of the fortunate escape' of. the; Hauraki Plains. The Wajhou River was ten feet above r land level a,t Titohia. - The, area between the* WaitakaruruMaukorjo ea.nal and the hill country suffered severely from the rus;h of water from the Waitakaruru stream, which tore a wide 1 gap in the new fiH- • ing on the Mangatarata road at Coxhead’s. The whole countryside was inundated, and some fajmilie's; were driven from their homes. School was impossible on Wednesday on account the depth of- water about the building. Many colonies of W&es were lost. The Piako River is discoloured and there is little; tidal action, but the water is njot up to, high spring, tide level. The ponding area beyond Ngarua is functioning as intte-nfled, and. the outlet is only letting through as much water,'.a.s the river can, cope with. A further rise is expected when-the up-country watfari gets town: .In selling a farm near' Pekapeka Roa.d last week the owner, gave an . assurance that it was free from flood, it had not been flooded since; 1908 until Wednesday, when on his sixth day of occupation; the new ownen found h' his house- surrounded and every bitof his land inundated. Dr.ainwater pumping -schemes reA ceived a great impetus on Wednesday, ** and on;e grodp of . Ngatea farmers reached unan|imity after years of argument, and) with feverish hastecommenced ‘to instal a pump which k ilas A een lying about since the last flow The w.ay has been made -easier for >he Hauraki Plains West Drainage, Board’s suggestion of a loaji. for pumps for -the Puhapga Island block, z as settlers now realise the benefit. The .existing pump on the block is doing great work, and w’H shortly have the area dry, Whereas with,the anticipated rise; in the river it would probably be weeks before gravity drainage would achieve that object. People must be amused even though there are, floods, and Mr H. A. Hamilton, of the Capitol Pictures circuit, is too good' a showman to let flooded .ajn|d railways prevent him from ap engagement. 0.1/ Wednesday he was in Paeroa, and was due to screen pictures at Wa'itoa thait evening. Travelling hard by car through Kopu, Pipiroa, Pokenp, and Hamilton, he. opened up at the regular time. Great loss will be sustained by the settlers whose; whole farms were, flooded through the' gap in the stopbank near, Carter’s corner, and whose cows had to stand in tlie water for two days. Many slipped calves are .anticipated on, account of the coldand excitement. Many cows could,, not be * fed with hay, jas wooden bridges had floated away, and for the same reason pattie could not be shifted from some farms. Although there was a foot or eighteen inches of water in the huts an!d tents which comprise the Public ' Works Department’s c.a.-mp on the riverside , near Carter’s cornier, most of the dwellings wwere occupied throughout the flood. After all, there wa.s little risk and nowhere eldq to go. The amount of drift-wood that went ■“down the Waihbu was astounding, and many farmers an,d Turua townspeople watched the firewood floating away with mixed feelings. It was sa'd tha.t on Wednesday afternoon it would have been dangerous for a launch to have been in the river off Turua on account of the size and n.umber of logs whirling along. The Hauraki Plains West Drainage ißoard! will benefit from the deluge in , "one irespect The outlets aefloss the between Pipiroa. and WaiJ takayubu will have been scoured out better thaji could 'have been done by the expenditure of much money.