THE LATE STORM.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1661, 17 November 1887, Page 3

THE LATE STORM.

At Gapes' Valley no hail was experienced nor was there any about a mile from Geraldine towards Winchester, although in both places the rain fell in torrents. In Geraldine it has completely stripped the gardens of fruit and flowers. In many cases the trees are left almost as bare of foliage as in winter, Mr Williams had his greenhouse smashed in by the hail. At Fairfield the hailstorm raged with even greater violence. Mr E. P. Wooding had six of the windows in his house smashed, while his fruit trees are completely stripped and very much broken about. His cereal crops, too, have also been beaten down- and cut off. Complaints are rife in all directions of the serious injury that has been done to the growing crops. No serious damage is yet reported as having been done by the rivers, although the Hae-hae-te-moana and Orari were both much flooded. The willows lately put in by the Road Board have done good service at the I encroachment of the Orari river near ! the bridge and have prevented the I road from being still further washed away. Nearly everyone who reaches Geraldine has got some story 1o tell of the remarkably rapid rise of the various rivers and creeks. Some of the stories would be amusing were it not for the loss'and trouble curtailed upon those who were the chief actors in the occurrences. On Monday morning the rain fell in torrents till about ten o'clock, when it ceased, and the sun came out brightly. About two o'clock, however, it again came on and continued to rain heavily during the remainder of the day. No serious damage has been reported as having been done by the flood in the Temuka district. The cow to which reference was made in our last issue, was washed ashore on the rifle range without having sustained any injury. A horse was washed down the Opihi, and is lying dead on the booms near the Opihi Bridge. A large hole has been scooped out at the Timaru end of the Manse footbridge, and Mr Naughton, of Waitohi, was nearly drowned there last Tuesday. The man rode along the footbridge, and thinking that the water at the end of the bridge was shallow walked ritfht into it, with the result that both himself and the horse were very soon under water, and it took them some time before they got out. Mr Naughton, however, stuck firmly to the horse and received no injury, with the exception of having been drenched from head to foot. The approaches to the bridge over Cooper's Creek near Mr Btdham's place have been scoured away, and it is consequently unsafe for traffic. A good deal of the river bank at Kemford farm, and M» Mitchell's farm, Waitoh\, has been washed away, and the ford near Mr John Kelland's has been scoured bo that it is impassable. The race at Mr Hayhurst's mill has been considerably damaged, but no injury was done to the mill. The roads in many places all over the district have been scoured, but the bridge over Cooper's creek is the most serious damage yet reported. Several old residents assert that the flood was as high as ever it had been, but that the rivers have lately been so scoured and widened that they were more able to carry it than in former years.