Trapped in Floods

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 987, 2 June 1930, Page 11

Trapped in Floods

N.S.W. STORM SPREADS RUIN

Farmers Swim to Safety

TWO FISHERMEN SWEPT AWAY TO SEA

WIDESPREAD damage, attended by loss of life, was caused by floods which followed a cloudburst on the south coast of Xew South Wales.

Farmers and their womenfolk had to swim to safety, and shipping craft, with their occupants, were swept to sea, two losing their lives.

United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyri, Reed. 10.10 a.m. SYDNEY, Today

A cloudburst over the Kangaroo Valley, on the South Coast, caused widespread damage. Long stretches of permanent railway have been washed out, due to the Pood water and landslides. Rail traffic has been disorganised and crops have suffered heavily. Several settlers had narrow escapes. Serious floods are feared. Telegraph poles were carried away and cattle sent hurtling down gorges by the force of the storm waters.

The homes of two farmers were cut off by eight feet of water, and as it was still rising, they took a desperate chance and swam with their womenfolk to safety.

Three hundred cars were trapped in three feet of and the motorists were carried off in boats.

There is a brighter side of the storm, however, as the soaking rains inland will mean millions of pounds to primary producers. The State has been waiting for many months for such rain, which covers the whole of New South Wales.

The north coast received very heavy falls, and floods are likely in the far northern rivers. John James, aged 17 years, was swept from his horse when crossing a covered bridge on the Tweed and was drowned.

Sydney experienced a particularly wild night, and a cyclone is raging off the coast. There were two feet of water at Warwick Farm racecourse. High- seas along the coast seriously interfered with shipping. A launch was wrecked off Amity Point. Stradbroke Island, and two members of a fishing party were drowned. The auxiliary schooner Joseph Sims is a total loss on Passage Island, in the Flinders Group. The crew is safe aboard another vessel. A fishing yawl ran ashore at Botany Bay and its three occupants donned lifebelts and swam through the breakers. They were exhausted upon reaching the shore. Grave fears are entertained for the safety of two men and two women, comprising a fishing party, which left Newport in a small launch. It is feared they have been swept to sea.