FLOODS IN THE KING COUNTRY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 51, 11 October 1907, Page 3

FLOODS IN THE KING COUNTRY.

Trains Detained at Te Kuiti.

As a£limax to the long spell of b.r.d JveaFher ber,"exception2lly heavy rain set in last "Thursday and continued Until Saturday. The Mangaokewa river at Te Kuiti rose rapidly, and on Friday morning was running a banker. The Mangapu backed up between Hangatiki _ and"Otorohanga and covered the railway to a depth of four or five feet. An effort was made to get the train through on Saturday morning but a wash-out on the line rendered this impossible, and communication with Auckland was cut off. Directly the water subsided sufficiently a large gang of workmen, under Inspector Sellars, got to work and by Sunday forenoon the track had been sufficiently repaired for an engine to get through. The necessary arrangements were quickly made, and an engine and carriages left Te Kuiti for Otorohanga at noon, carrying the passengers from Taumarunui who had been detained in Te Kuiti .since the previous morning. A special train connected at Otorohanga and left for Auckland shortly after one o'clock. On Monday the trains ran as usual.

All the streams in the district rose to a great height on Saturday, the Mokau overflowing the Awakino road in several places, but so far little damage has been reported. Although the rainfall was exceptionally great during last week the water did not reach the level of the flood of January last, and the effect in Waikato was not nearly so great. This is accounted for by the fact that the summer flooding was contributed to largely by the snow melting on the mountains and discharging into the various tributaries of the Waikato. The recent rainfall was probably as great as that of January, and to the fact of it occurring in cold weather can be attributed the fortunate circumstance of merely a small amount of damage.