FLOODS IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 307, 20 May 1913, Page 5

FLOODS IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

TRAFFIC DISTURBED. SOME SENSATIONAL EXPERIENCES. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Sydney, May 19. Pending the restoration of the railway service in the flooded districts, passengers are being conveyed in boats and vehicles across the broken sections. Wide areas are still under water, but the floods are steadily receding. Many families are unable yet to return to their homes, and they are being provided with food and shelter in public buildings. Most of the collieries are idle for want of trains to remove the coal. At Maitland four men took refuge from the floods on a roof. A floating tree struck the building and rendered it insecure, so they secured a boat, and after an exciting drift for miles, managed to land. A man who was drifting on the Peel river on a log was rescued unconscious. Reports from outside centres state that along the various rivers there is widespread devastation. Rescue boats took settlers from roofs, hay stacks and trees, where they had sought safety, Lucerne growers on the flats are amongst the heaviest losers, Miles of rich agricultural lands were swept, and the crops covered with.silt and debris, many farms being ruined.