WIDE DAMAGE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 488, 23 March 1933, Page 5

WIDE DAMAGE

BODY REPORTED FLOATING Taumarunui, Wednesday. Some concern was felt for a handful of residents on Winter's Island. When dawn broke the. island seemed to be covered by water, only the house-tops and tree-tops showing. However, as the water subsided smoke was seen issuing from the chimneys, so it is presumed that all is well, There is no means of communicating with them until the waters subside further. A Manunui girl reports th'at at seven o'clock this morning she saw the body of a boy in short trousers floating beneath the railway bridge at Matapuna. So far there is no word of any boy being missing. Much damage is reported from Manunui, where the tennis courts and football ground are inundated, the railway line damaged, and washouts on the roads. Settlers Isoiated' Four bridges are down in the Otunui district, and many wash-outs are isolating the settlers, who are unable to get their cream out. The Taumarunui electric system is still out of order, and is unlikely to be resumed till to-morrow. The water pressure is also low owing to flood dam-age at the intake. There is silt several inches deep in houses on the "Flat," and much damage to householders' property has been done. The bowling green on the recreation ground is covered several inches in silt. Water AU Roujid Bed ' One wom&n, wakened by a baby • crying, put out her hand to rock the cradle, and found water all round the bed. She made a hasty escape, and as she "was near the river boundary she *had a diffieult task in getting out of the swirling waters. Taumarunui is full of people from the derailed Auckland limited. It is reported that a 'plane is eoming from ^Palmerston to piek up passengers anxious to get away on business.