ROOD SWEEPS CITY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 632, 8 April 1929, Page 1

ROOD SWEEPS CITY

Twenty-Five People Drowned

TORRENT’S ENORMOUS DAMAGE

Darkness and Rain Add to Terrors

rE worst flood in the history of Tasmania has done damage estimated at £750,000 at Launceston. Twentyfive people are known to be dead. Three thousand people are homeless and boats are plying in the city streets. Power and gas supplies have been cut off and all tram and rail services have been suspended. Last night the country was swept by a terrific gale. In places only the roofs of the houses are visible. Bridges, boatsheds and even the railway station, have been washed away.

Alarms were sounded on Saturday night and the city became alive with motor-cars carrying people to safety. The terrors of the night were added to by heavy rain and the fact that the city was in total darkness. The Premier of Tasmania has sent an urgent appeal for assistance to the Prime Minister of Australia, asking him to call Federal Parliament together to discuss the disaster. (Australian and Jf.Z. Press Association) f United P.A. By Telegraph Copyright) Jtecd. 10.35 a.m. HOBART, To-day. put out of action the old municipal Further news concerning the Tas- liydro plant was called upon, but the Banian floods which followed the re- rising flood soon rendered work there cent torrential rains shows that the Impossible. The man in charge of the

damage is greater than was anticipated. At Invermay, a suburb of Launceston, hundreds of people have been driven from their homes, and many dwellings are submerged. The town of Longford is surrounded by water. Rowing boats are plying in the streets of Launceston. Heavy damage has been done to trope. The South Esk River is 52ft above normal. Road and railway bridges have been swept away, and the railway station has also been washed away. Thousands of residents of Launceston and suburbs are homeless. There have been many narrow escapes from drowning. Some people are completely marooned on the tops of their louses, only the roofs of which are visible in some parts. Furniture is floating everywhere. Potato crops In the Burnie district lave been washed out, and a disorganisation of the market is expected. All sailings from Melbourne have leen cancelled. SWEPT BY TERRIFIC GALE A later message says that last night

plant had a narrow escape. The suspension bridge over the South Esk River has been destroyed and is hanging by a single wire. A close watch is being kept on the longford railway bridge, which connects Launceston with Burnie by rail. King’s Bridge, connecting the city with the suburb of Trevellyn, has been closed to traffic. The water is rushing through the top of the arch. A committee of prominent citizens is organising a supply of food and clothing. The homeless have been housed in schools and halls. The steamer Koranui swung across the wharf and was in danger for some time, but was eventually secured. The rowing club’s shed was swept down the Tamar, and the bowling pavilion at Royal Park was ‘turned completely round. The cattle jetty has also given way. To-night the city was in darkness. The Tamar has expanded to a width hitherto unknown. Sunday night’s broadcasts stated that in the northern districts communication by road and railway was a thing of the past. Restoration will involve heavy expenditure. Communication between Launceston and Burnie has been suspended. FLOODS NOW RECEDING A later message supplied by the “Examiner” said that the receding flood waters only served more clearly to show lhe havoc wrought. At low tide the water was pouring from the badly submerged suburbs of Inveresk and Invermay. People in the city are responding splendidly to the appeal for help. The ketch Linda which, with several other small vessels, was swept down the river, is believed to have been sunk. Many yachts have been lost. The city to-night (Sunday) was without light, power, or gas. The manager of the Avoca tin mine, Mr. Stanley, with his two children, are missing. It is feared that they have been drowned. Five of the eight bodies of persons in a car which plunged into the torrent have been recovered. The death roll totals 25. Railway traffic between Launceston Hobart and Burnie has been suspended indefinitely. The Melbourne “Argus” and the Lord Mayor of Melbourne are making an urgent appeal for funds. The Electrolytic Tin Company has subscribed £I,OOO.

tie country was swept by a terrific gale. A moderate estimate places the damage to property at £750,000. A party motoring to a dance near Burnie was thrown into the river when a bridge collapsed. All but the driver were drowned. It is feared that 10 lives were lost at Stanley. The manager of the Henbury tin mine with his wife and two children are missing. They are believed to have been drowned. The Premier of Tasmania. Mr. J. A. Lyons, has sent an urgent appeal for assistance to the Prime Minister ot Australia, Mr. S. M. Bruce, asking him to call the Federal Parliament together to discuss the disaster. BRIDGES SWEPT AWAY i _— [ WHARVES UNDER WATER r TORRENTIAL RAIN FALLING GISBORNE, To-day. A message broadcast from Melbourne on Saturday night says that the Tasmanian floods have proved the most disastrous in the history of the State. Northern Tasmania, roads and railways are submerged, innumerble bridges have been swept away, aui damage amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds has been done. ( Three thousand people are homeless -u the suburbs of Inveresk and InverB ay, and many more are still In dan*er - There are grave fears of further loss, as torrential rain is still tilling. The Tamar River is in rerord flood. The wharves are four under water. Houses vacated “hi afternoon are now inundated to “ e tops of the walls. The State electric power works have been disabled, and the city '* w 'thout light or power. Railway* are at a standstill, the lines *t some places being nine feet und 'c water. ,families are marooned on the ■ Ps of their houses. Rescue work is ,i o * l - motor-boats being required to thact them. . - ruin cou ntry crops have been h ® e “ an[ i many thousands of stock “V 9 Perished. _ Tien the State electric works were

The city of Launceston, which is situated at the apex of a triangle formed by the North and South Esk Rivers, and at the point where the two streams join the Tamar, is about 40 miles inland from the north coast of Tasmania. It is 277 miles from Melbourne witli which it is connected by a daily steamer service. The South Esk River, which rises in, and flows through, very hilly country, empties into the Tamar opposite the wharves. During the last few miles of its course it flows through a deep gorge in which, according to the cables, the water at one stage was banked up 52ft above the normal level. The gorge, which is well-known to tourists, is crossed at its lower end, at a considerable height above the bed of the stream, by the single-arched King's Bridge, which has been closed to traffic.

About a mile up from the city the gorge widens out into a park and playground, access to which is gained by paths cut into the almost perpendicular sides of the gorge. At this point the river is crossed by a high-level suspension bridge which, it is said, has been swept away. The bridge led to the hydro-electric power-house further up stream. The Tamar River, usually a wide, placid expanse of water is flanked on either side by orchards most of the way from Launceston to the coast. Its winding course through fertile hilly country, provides one of Tasmania’s chief scenic attractions.