MOTORISTS’ ORDEAL

Opotiki News, Volume I, Issue 28, 2 May 1938, Page 3

MOTORISTS’ ORDEAL

OVERWHELMED BY FLOOD SWEPT INTO TREE-TOPS A REMARKABLE ESCAPE Caught by the rising waters of the Sunday night’s flood at Tangoio, two Gisborne residents bound' homeward from Hawke’s Bay barely escaped with their lives When, having to leave their stalled car to seek safety, they were, swept into a torrent in which they were whirled over the fence, and down the valley.. By great good fortune, the course of the torrent carried them within reach of a, small group of willow trees, and they seized branches and climbered into the tops of the trees, where thy spent the remaining hours of darkness. They were rescued exhausted, some time after daylight. 1 Those who shared the adventure, which at one stage seemed certain to end fatally, were Miss Marjorie Skinner, formerly of Napier, and Mr D. M. Mic Gregor. the, resident A.|A. patrol at Gisborne. The latter returned to Gisborne on Friday by air. but M’iss Skinner remained with her relatives in Napier until yesterday. Flood Warnings Heeded. They commenced the journey from Napier to Gisborne after tea on the Sunday evening, Mr McGregor stated in- discussing the experience with a P. B. Herald representative on Saturday. Broadcast warnings of heavy rain and l possible flooding on the Napier-W airoa section of .the highway had been sent out, and the travellers realised that there was every need for haste if they were to get through in time. Shortly after passing tlie Tangoio Native School, however, the car ran into water on the road, and Mr McGregor stopped the engine to make an examination of the stream ahead. In a minute or two the water rose to a level which prevented him restarting the engine, and, having had experience of the sudden flooding of the. Tangoio. Stream on other occasions, lie concluded) that it was best to stand by the car until the water subsided.

Knowledge of past floods proved entirely misleading on this occasion, however, for by midnight the water had entered the car, and only the seats were dry. Mis Skinner and Mr McGregor dozed lor awhile, but woke to find that a, further rise had) taken place, and soon, at about 2 a.m., the young ladj r was obliged . to perch on the back of tin* driving seat, while the A.A. patrol sat .waist-deep behind the wheel.

The force behind the flood up to this time had not been alarming, Init when the water began to break over the doors on the upstream side of the car, the machine threatened to overturn. The patrol decided that uninviting as the prospect was, nothing remained but to try and reach the fence and fight along it to higher ground.

The flood was pouring through and over the fence, and rising sharply. It was obvious that to be successful, action must be immediate, and Miss Skinner and the patrol dropped into the current from the wings of the car. to be driven against the wires and a mass of blackberry." To make progress through this mass wa» impossible, but the problem was solved for the marooned' pair when a. surge of water tumbled them over a fence to the downstream side. Fefuge Barely Reached. Hanging on to the top wire, they made some progress along the fenceline, but the drag of the flood-waters was rapidly exhausting them, and eventually they had to recognise that exhaustion would defeat their efforts to reach higher ground. Mr McGregor looked downstream, and noted that the flow of the torrent would) give them a chance of reaching a. clump of willows, of which only the upper portion of the boles and the branches still stood, above the hood.

Working for a bettor position from which to take off, he and M*ss Skinner loosed their hold .on the fence, and were at once drawn into the tumbling flood, sweeping down fast upon the trees. A turn of the stream seemed likely to carry them past their goal, but such efforts as Mr McGregor was able to make in swimming had some effect, and they just managed to grasp (Continued on Page 1.)