THE NORTHERN FLOODS.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 February 1917, Page 5

THE NORTHERN FLOODS.

WOMAN'S TRAGIC DEATH,

SAY KPT OFF FOOTBRIDGE Kawakawa, Monday. A woman named Mrs. Anderson Christ tic, aged .">!) years, wife of a. Towai »et-4i tier, was drowned 011 Saturday in 11 cm I; near her residence. Mrs. Christie Inul boon visiting a son, wlio lives near Mal'onmku, and despite entreaties of her sou and the fact that the water was rapidly rising, she insisted on starting for home. In crossing a bridge about a-quarter of a mile from home p.he was swept: off her feet by the rushing water, and carried on to a barbed-wire fence, where her body was found on Sunday; morning.

FOUR MAORIS DROWNED. TWO CHILDREN SWEPT AWATf. Dargaville, Monday. The names of the two men who wert drowned while attempting to cross thd Kuihu Creek at Trounßon's Mill on Sat* urday are Repeta Haira, aged 25 yearq of age, and Hone Turu, aged 20 years. Last evening Mr. W. Dowding, a. re* turned soldier, who lias taken up a sec* tion in the Awakino Valley, arrived after a precarious trip and reported that at Ka;rara two Maori children, a boy and gin aged about eight and nine years rcbpcctivcly, had been washed out of their parents' whnre and drowned. Dowding experienced an exciting timd in rescuing a Maori woman and her child, whom he subsequently placed ini the branches of a taraire tree until tha flood waters subsided six hours later.

TRAPPED BY THE FLOOD. TWO MEN ON WHAHE KOOF. Wliangarel, Monday. Details have come to hand as to now the two gumdiggers, Patrick Power and. > Alfred Jacobean, met their death* on Saturday. Power and a man named David Hamilton lived in a hut three miles beyond Poroti, near the Wairuft Budge, and Jacobson, who was an elder" ly man, occupied another. They had resided there for a considerable time and had witnessed many floods but had never, until Saturday last, been placed in jeopardy. When the water was seen rising round the whare occupied by Power and Hamilton, the latter express* ed concern, but Power was still uninn pressed by the seriousness of the situation, and they remained until they were trapped. higher and high* \ er and, as a last resource, the men clam* < bcied on to the roof- and clung y to the ridging. They were observed from a distance by a man named Camp* bcl 1 who was on horseback, and, realising the desperate- peril of the isolated men, galloped to the nearest pjkee where ho procured a rope. Returning he thxe*; the rope to Hamilton and hauled him toj safety. At that moment the whare collapsed and Power was swept away by the torrent.

Meantime Jacobson made a dash for lite across the bridge and gained a small knoll still uncovered by the flood. The water, however, rose quickly and the raw fortunate old man was swept away, his despairing cries being heard by a number of people who were powerless to giY9| him aid. '

REPAIRING THE RAILWAYS WOMAN'S NARROW ESCAPE,. Kawakawa, Monday. Although now receding, the sever# (Uods in low-lying districts are still af« fueling communication. The mail coachei fiom Ohaeawai to Hokianga and to the North were unable to make the trip on Snturday, but manned to get through on Sunday. The strength of the flood is shown by the- fact- that Messrs. Andrewes and Sens' store at Taheka, n building 00ft in length, was lifted bodily from tho ground and carried one hundred .yards, where it was obstructed by the telegraph wires. A strange circumstance of the occurrence was that the goods contained in the building were not even shtiken from the shelves. A woman who was visiting a bush cuiup where her husband was working found herself marooned in the bush cookhoiiße. The waters were rising rap- , idlv. and there was danger of the shanty , bring swept away. The only way of escape was across the Otiria River, which by that time was a rushing torrent. W.Ui great pluck she plunged in, and, t after a desperate struggle, succeeded in reaching a place of safety. An inquest in connection with the death of Alfred Attwood, a settler who \va» drowned at Motatnu. was held at ( Motatnu to-day before Mr. Blundell, J.P., a verdict of accidental death by drowning being returned.

WHANGAREI IN DARKNESS.

POWER STATION INUNDATED.

Whangarei, Monday. When the Dominion Portland Cement Company installed its hydro-eleetfic powor plant at tlio Wninia Falls, nil flood records available for the past 40 years were consulted, and the powor station was erected at ft height well beyond flood level, although there were some rumors that the- Maoris had given » warning based 011 a flood level of very aiicient date. Saturday's phenomenal flood exceeded nil record's, official or traditional, and (here was a depth of lift of water in tin: station building. The exact position could not be ascertained authentically until yesterday evening, telephonic communication having been interrupted. Tin- transformers in the stand are nearlv lift, high from the floor, which means that they are entirely submerged and miilcred' useless, not merely for the present, but in all probability for the next six weeks. This is the shortest period, it is believed in which they can be restored In utility from the time t!:ey become accessible under most favorable circumstanecß. Possibly other menus will be found for providing temporary lighting for Whangarei, but at present the only means of access to the station building is by descending the pipe-line track from the reservoir to the flood surface, and then covering the distance between by boat and gaining ingress through a window, so that the problem of the restoration of tin, curat 'ls not limply :