VICTORIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 344, 16 February 1856, Page 5

VICTORIA.

TERIUIiLE FLOODS AT HALAAR.VT. Seuious Loss of I.ii-u. —Dkstruction of PuOIVKKTV TO TUB AMOUNT (IF £ 100,000. .M(.»J>l „tvisasLi"t ih floods have I.iLt.'iy uikcu place al B.il'ftniat, particulars of which we subjoin. The correspondent of the Grelonr/ Jdcnrtisur writes as follows from liallaarat, December 17: —s' December is a fatal month foi Ballaarat — last year the sword, this year lire ami fl-md are the airbills. Ycsterilay towards the cveninir it began to ligliten and thunrlcr, and inxnediaiely the mm au<l hail followed. 1 have never in the colony seen such heavy rain ; it, canu: down in literal torrents, —as might be expected, the flats were soon inundated, especially thai poriiuii of the low ground a-ijoining the main road. At six o'clock the main ro;nl was passable, and in hiilf an lioiirafiorsiimc portions were knee deep, and by eight o'clock, from the township to Bakery ilill, save a few spots, the road was entirely covered, 3fen were running to ami fro with lights, carts were in requisition to extricate women, many of whom added to the strtnge nihlness of the scene by screaming from terror. * * * The destruction of property has been very great; at a rough estimate I may say as much as that caused by the fire. It is to he hoped that no lives have been lost, though I fear thai when all the accounts come in we will hear of several, « • * While I write the weather is warm and summer-like as possible, though it is likely that we shall have some more rain before the evening. Several men are repurted to have been drowned last night at Magpie ; it is certain that one or two have been so there, and one.at the Black Hill."

Under (Into Tuesday, 18th instant, the same writer furnishes the following particulars.— '•The rain which I informed you in my last as threatening at midday, came down as I verily believe only Bailaarat rain can, and between 2 and 3 o'clock we had a repetition of Sunday night's calamity. True, the same tilings could not he carried away twice, and so the second flood was less destructive than the first ; but as on Sunday evening many tents and stores were reduced to a very unsteady state, it only needed yesterday's 11 jod to render them useless. I have not heard of any lives being lost yesterday, as the peojile were more prepared lor the emergency. From what I can hear as to Sunday night's destruction, there are six lives lost for certain; one ac the Brown Mill, one on the Fiat, and lour—three men and one woman—at .Magpie. There are, at least, six more missing, Miiii from the manner in which the Hood came down, and the lateness of the hour, I (ear that the number will he but little under a dozen. The storm appeared to keep Ballaarat as a centre, as the thunder came from the northwest, and alter passing, came hack in the course it passed over. The loss of property is immense; all the claims on the low grounds are swamped, and some of them in a dangerous state from thj pressure of the water. At Eureka, Little Bendigo, and .Magpie in particular, valuable heaps oi' washing .st..ii", puddling machines, tents, tools, (Sec, were swept away; the second lliuut iiuishing what the iiist. had left undone. A gentleman from Magpie informs me that several persons owe their safety on Sunday night to their having taken refuge for some hours in v nee, and that one of the men drowned then, was so while saving two women. He saved them, hut perished himself. '['he destiuction of pmp.Tty is greater than at first imagined. [ d<> not think that £ 100,000 would cover i!.— Sydney Empire. Piion.viHi.irv oi- \ Flood — \ correspondent in ihei.iM numlier of the Mail In ml Mercury lias tin; following speculations mi the probabilities- <>f a severe il-.n-.l :—Most of our readers will no doubtbave remarked the great contrast which he coolness and wetness of the present summer

presents to the extreme heat and dry ness of the previous one. Just fancy how agreeably disappointed any one arriving from England at the present lime would he on finding ihe Australian summer so delightfully cool and agreeable, instead ol being so intolerably warm and sultry as all that he had ever heard or road of it would have led linn to imagine. The fact il-;, that the present weather has ail the characteristics of a cold wet spring, and were it not for the damage likely to be done thereby to the outstanding wheat crops, nothing could be more pleasant or desirable than its continuance throughout the whole .season. I/ist winter, moreover, was unusually mild, which fact, coupled with the coolness of this summer, seems to confirm an opinion which f previously enl»:riain«!d, and which has been derived from pretty close observation ol the weather for some years past, viz., that when tli« winter iv milder than usual the summer is cooler, and vice versa. Another peculiarity of the present season is, tin; j/reat quantity of electricity contained in the atmosphere, as evidenced by the frequent thunderstorms and the many accidents which have resulted from them. In no previous year do I recollect so many accidents occurring from tiiis cause its during the present. Taking nil these circumstances into consideration, together with many other atmospheric phenomena which are almost daily witnessed, but which it would be difficult to describe—•although I would not Pxaetly venture to prophesy a flood, I think the probability of such an event happening during the present autumn is very great, and as " to be forewarned is ti> be forearmed," ii would he as well, perhaps, if it were anticipated by prudent measures on the part of thosi? who are likeiy to suffer from such an unfortunate occurrence. It will he recollected that a severe flo ul was expected la*t siunmer by many of the old and experienced colonists. Now, as it is pretty certain that these floods do take place periodically in this country this expectation on the part of those whose opinions ought to be of considerable weiirht in such a matter, together with the present unsettled, and at this season vi' the year aln.osl unprecedented, stale of the weather, render, as I said before, a great Hood highly probable. All or nearly all the great floods which have hitherto occurred have been in March, so that the most likely period at which to expect one would be about the autumnal equinox.— lbid.