Floods at Tahiti.

Samoa Times and South Sea Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 27, 20 April 1889, Page 2

Floods at Tahiti.

DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY. : GREAT LOSS OF LIFE. j PAPEETE UNDER WATER. (from ihe Auckland Evening Star.) i Tahiti, as well ns Samoa, suffered severely by the advent of the hurricane season, but while Samoa sum- • taincd mast damage in the port of Apia, Tahiti appears to have been visited by a series of gales and I floods, which extended throughout I the island, and caused terrible des-

truction to life and property. The gale* nnd floods were preceded by a prolonged drought extending over about ten months, and in the usual course of events in those beautiful isles of the sea, the inhabitants fully expected that the stormy season would be equally severe.

On March 4th rain began to fall, and continued with little intermis-1 sion for the following ten days, making the roads almost impassaMe, putting a complete stop to btisi-; rioss, and seriously damaging the crops. • About 1 o'clock on the 9th March Papeete was subjected to an inundation, the severity of which was beyond any similar flood experienced by the oldest inhabitants. Rain fell incessantly for thirtysix hours, and the whole place was completely under water. The Mission River rose to a fearful height, and its turbulent waters, aided by tho prevalence of a strong gale, carried everything before thorn in tho direction of the eastern portion of ! the town. Here tho water rose to an extraordinary height, until the streets | war* converted into rivers, and tho

only means of communieaUou be*; twees the houses was by means of. canoes, which were busily engaged j in removing all that could I* res- j cued from the partly submerged dwellings, t At the same time the river St. Amelie, the river Seine and the river Tipaerui precipitated their swollen torrents of water into the district of St'Amelie and we town ol Rivoli, and but for the diversion of the water to the Government gardens these places would have been literally destroyed. The Government?" officials, did everything in their.power to organisu relief for those who had - been been rendered houseless and homej less, and accompanied by the miliI tary and detachments of marines, j they proceeded'to the most threat- ; ened positions and did all they i possibly could to save the houses I most in danger, and to place the ; women and chilren in positions of j safety. 1 j On the morning of March 10th : the rain had diminished considerj ably, but it was found that during i the night the flood had worked < fearful destruction on all sides.

At Moorea the Hood caused a great loss, the place having been overwhelmed by a terrible avalanche which descended from the hills. • The village of Papetoai was swept j into the s*a by the force of the elements, eight houses being carried bodily off the face of the earth and swept away on the stormy waters of the ocean along with their inhabitants, men, women, and children, in one helpless mass. | A woman and a young girl have I also disappeared, and, as their j bodies have not been recovered, it | is feared that they have shaied a I similar fate. The town was undar water for ': thirty-six hours, and the official re- { cords gave the depth of water in

the principal streets asanout nve feet. Trees which ornamented the side-walks ' were uprooted and swept away bodily, and the whole I place presents a scene of devastation j terrible to witness. ! The country districts felt the <-f- ---', feets of the gale and flood even ■ more severely than the tdwn, and I many centres of population were i laid desolate. Between thirty and forty bridges | are reported as having been carried away, and it will cost about £IO,OOO to replace them. Roads have ceased to exist, having been choked up or swept out of existence entirely. Several heavy landslips occurred in the hilly districts, and when fuller information comes to hand it is feared that great loss of life will be recorded. ! The native plantations were dei stroyed, and the inhabitants are not ■ only homeless butin dangerofstarv--1 ation. I Government officials have been j doing what they can to supply the wants of the people, but, as the Journal Officiel points out, the disi aster is sft great that little can be done to alleviate the suffering of the people except by an appeal to the i benevolent public. With this in I view it has been suggested that a committee should be formed to re-

ceivc All the contributions that may ,' he forthcoming in aid of thof« in distress and to distribute the same. | It is estimated that the loss sus- ; sustained by the unfortunate inhabitants of Papetoai alone exceeds ; 30,000 francs, and a special appeal is made for contributions on their | behalf

The mail schooner City of Papeete had a narrow escape of coming to grief during the war of wind and flood. She arrived from San Francisco jnst as the storm was ruin?, and had made the entrance to' the harhor. Here she waited to pick, up the tug, hut before the latter could reach her the sea had risen to such an extent .the* she was forced to proceed to sea and remain there for eight days, until the gale abated.