NAPIER.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2528, 12 February 1877, Page 2

NAPIER.

Saturday. It rained heavily all last night, and has continued to conje down ever since more or less copiously. There'is a very heavy sea on too, and the Eangatiri's departure is postponed till Monday, at 2 o'clock. The town of Napier is much flooded, and in some parts it is difficult of progress for foot passengers. The country districts are so much jlooded that it has not been practicable to obtam information excepting in the immediate neighborhood of the town and of the railway line. Mr Miller, the manager of the railway, went up the line at daylight to take precautionary measures for the protection of the bridges at the railway crossings. The Ngaruro river covers a portion of the railway at Merritt's Corner, and the water there is still rising. At the toll gj.te on the White .Road, about three miles from Napier, the water is four feet deep, and beyond there it deepens to five feet, and is washing like a sea. There is no communication beyond Meanee, and there all the settlers are flooded out of their homes. From Meunee to Taradale is one unbroken sea of water as. far as the eye can reach. The cattle are breasting their way along the water, seeking dry land. It is feared many sheep are drowned. Though no information has come in from Taradale, there is reason to fear the people thereabouts are in great danger and distress. It has been arranged by Mr Tiffen, chairman of the Hawke's Bay Council and Mr Kinross, acting chairman of the Harbor Board, to dispatch a boat from the Spit to-night to : render assistance to the flocded-out settlers.