THE LATE STORM.

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

THE LATE STORM.

Large Amount of Damage Done.

Karaka Bridge, Pollen street, I Given "Way.

Flooding of a Portion of the Borough.

The rain which has been descending with more or less violence throughout the paat week appeared to. hare reached its culminating point on Saturday. . It had been raining heavily at intervals throughout the day, but about nine o'clock, when many of the people were in the theatre it descended in such torrents that it became a matter of some difficulty for those who lived in the direction of Shortland to reach their homes. The read leading past, the Mechanics' Institute was completely flooded, and when is added to this the fact that the night was unusually dark, only relieved by occasional flashes of vivid lightning, it will not be surprising to. hear that some of those who were wending their way homewards in that direction got considerably over their knees in water by stepping.unwittingly into the side gutters, &c, where the water, of course, "was of more than the ordinary depth. In Pollen street affairs were not much better; the pathways on either side were completely submerged, and it was only by keeping on the crown of the road that the way-farers were enabled to keep themse'ves in the slightest degree dry. Yesterday morniug revealed more fully the extent of the damage. On the road past Tararu there were several landslips, and a gentleman on horseback, attempting to cross the creek was nearly swept down and out to sea, so strong was the flood in that place. On the road to Para Wai a great part of the country appeared to have been flooded; the play-ground of the Parawai School was one mass of mud to the depth iv some parts of several inches. The side walk at the back of the slaughterhouse past Mr Mackay's residence had evidently been submerged, as was apparent from the rich deposit of I slime and mud left thereon. Further on ! the banks of the bridge which crosses the j stream between Major Cooper's house ! and the Parawai Gardens were in parts completely . undermined and at the west corner on the Parawai side a large portion of, the bank had given way, leaving a de,ep and very ugly looking hole. On Sunday morning, we are told, the water was over the bridge itself, which was, of course, instantly closed, being unsafe for traffic, and will continue to remain so until the necessary repairs are made, a work which we believe was set about this morning, A smaller bridge on Mrs Q'Keeffe's land was also washed away, and carried bodily a considerable distance, and deposited on Mr Dufty's land at the back of Mr Mills' house. The water at this spot must have risen at least eight feet above its ordinary level, as it flooded part of Mr Flett's land and did considerable damage to a nursery garden on the other side of the stream. As might be expected, a very large number of logs were brought down, the number of these being variously estimated at from 500 to 10C3. We believe that about 800 is nearer the mark. The fatal accident caused by the storm is alluded to elsewhere. Some of the incidents which accompanied \the flooding of the streets afforded amusement to those who were not themselves the victims. The streams of water which crossed and re crossed the road were so numerous that after proceeding dry-shod for a few yards the pedestrian found himself compelled to return and find a dryer path or wade through. Under these circumstances some followed the example of William of Deloraine, and—

By wily turns and desperate bounds

attempted to baffle, not bloodhounds, but muddy water. One Trie'tance may be quoted which shows the folly of trusting to appearances. A gentleman was brought to a stop by the water crossing the roadj and being unwilling either to return or wade determined to try and reach the pathway, especially as he saw one of those plank-bridges temptingly standing an inchi or so out of the water about four feet from him. He made the spring and reached the planking, but, alas, the bridge at one end had become unfastened, and was merely floating on the top of the water; added to ibis the planks were slippery, and as it gave way with his weight the feet of the jumper slipped up, he fell on his back in the cool water, and, after rising, departed for his home a wiser and a wetter man.

In the Waiotahi district the damage is by no means trifling. The tramway is injured, but not to any great extent. This morning the culvert under the Nonpareil mullock tip- got choked up and the water coming down in large quantities would soon have done considerable damage had not a log or some other floating material knocked away the obstruction. That part of the Waiotahi road just' above the Golden Age hotel, locally known as- Brodie's esplanade, is damaged in several places, and above that -there are as many as eight or nine landslips over the road, varying in extent from about 20 tons to upwards of 100 tons. The cost of clearing 'away:the debris is estimated to amount to between£6o and £70. The culverts are also slightly injured in several places by logs. With the exception of the landslips the damage done is not so great as might have been expected. •