ENORMOUS DAMAGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 April 1938, Page 8

ENORMOUS DAMAGE

THE HAWKE’S BAY FLOOD DISASTER FIFTH OF PASTURE LANDS LOST IN SOME AREAS. LEGACY OF 1931 EARTHQUAKE. HASTINGS, April 28. Replacement and repair of roads, bridges and culverts damaged by the flood will cost the Hawke's Bay County Council a far greater sum than was involved in making good the earthquake losses. This is the opinion of the chairman of the Hawke's Bay County Council, Mr F. B. Logan, after consideration of preliminary reports of damage to the county’s roads and a visit of inspection to the Clive area and the Esk Valley today in company with the county engineer, Mr R. Puflet. The damage in the Petane Riding, which includes the Esk Valley, is enormous, and it will be many months before roads and bridges are restored to the condition in which they were before the flood. Damage to roads and bridges in the Waikare Riding, which includes the Tangoio Valley, is possibly more serious than in the Esk Valley, but access to this area is still impossible, and up to tonight there was little news of what had actually .happened there. “It is reasonable to suppose,” said Mr Puflet, “that the county’s roads and bridges in the Waikare Riding suffered to the same extent as the main highway which, from all reports, is so badly affected that restoration of communication will be a very costly business.”

Owing to the complete severance of road and telephone communications, information of conditions in outlying districts is almost wholly lacking, but it is now becoming evident that the damage in all flooded areas is much more serious than was at first supposed, and it will be no surprise if the damage to farm lands and communications exceeds that caused by the earthquake. “The damage appears so colossal that I would make no attempt to make any estimate of it,” said the Minister of Mines, the Hon P. C. Webb, after inspecting the flooded area of Hawke’s Bay from an aeroplane today. Before returning to Wellington the Minister was met at the Hastings aerodrome by the Hon W. E. Barnard, member for Napier, and Mr E. L. Cullen, member for Hawke’s Bay. After a short conference Mr Webb advised calling a meeting of representatives of local bodies, and Public Works and other Government officials for the purpose of forming a committee to consider relief measures for those who needed it. This conference will be held in the Hawke’s Bay County Council chambers at Napier on Monday morning at 10 o’clock. I'NSPECTION OF AREA. A tour of the flooded districts was made today by the Hon W. E. Barnard, M.P., and Mr E. L. Cullen, M.P. Mr Barnard said tonight that he was appalled at the spectacle in the Esk Valley. Mr Cullen, who is a practical farmer, said it would be 18 months to two years before a sole of grass was grown on the silt-covered land of the Esk Valley. During the, coming spring settlers would probably be . able to raise crops of mafze and pumpkins, but for general farming purposes all the land in the valley would be out of production for two years. Messrs Barnard and Cullen also visited the market garden area in Bay View and found the gardens completely buried in silt. Later, they met a deputation from distressed settlers and arranged for them to start work immediately in clearing up their own farms.

The distribution of food to settlers and others who are marooned because of impassable roads or bridges or bridgeless rivers is still presenting a problem. In many cases the only method of delivering supplies is by dropping them from an aeroplane. A settler in the Esk Valley was compelled to swim the river today to obtain supplies. Mr Barnard said aero club members had been doing splendid work in dropping food supplies to the marooned settlers, but as far as he could see there would be need for continuance of this work until the roads were opened. He had therefore requested Mr Savage to send one of the Government bombing planes to Hawke’s Bay to assist in the distribution of food if needed.

SILT AND DEBRIS EVERYWHERE. “The irreparable loss of an enormous area of first-class pasture lands in Hawke’s Bay as the result of Monday’s floods,” Mr R. P. Kay, Kereru, stated tonight, “is one of the legacies of the 1931, earthquake.” Mr Kay, who visited the Puketapu, Wharerangi, Rissington, and Eskdale area today, said that in this area, which included some of the most kindly sheep country in New Zealand, approximately one-fifth of the pasture lands had been lost through slips on the hills and the accumulation of silt and debris in the valleys. During the earthquake, said Mr Kay, tops of hills were shattered and cracked, permitting the entry of much larger quantities of water than before the earthquake. The abnormal rains of the past two months, culminating in the downpour which caused Monday's flooding, resulted in large quantities of water penetrating under the covering of soil on the hills. The pressure of water eventually became so great that slipping naturally followed. In the area he traversed today he

saw not hundreds 'out thousands of slips. He had seen nothing like it in 40 years, and the general damage was far worse than the damage caused by the earthquake. TRAVELLING BY SHIP. PASSENGERS FOR WAIROA. NAPIER, April 28. Unable to travel to Wairoa from Napier- by road, a large number of people who have been held up in Napier for the past few days will sail for Wairoa in the steamer Koau tomorrow. It is probable that frequent trips will be made by Richardson Company steamers for the purpose of assisting those who have been held up. The number sailing tomorrow is about 40. GOVERNMENT’S PLANS COMPLETE INVESTIGATION IMPERATIVE. TO PREVENT A RECURRENCE OF DISASTER. WELLINGTON, April 28. On his return to Wellington in the late afternoon, the Hon P. C. Webb discussed the situation with the Minister of Public Works, the Hon R. Semple, who subsequently announced the steps being taken to restore conditions to normal and to investigate cases of hardship with a view to granting immediate relief. Both Ministers later reported on the situation to the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon M. J. Savage, who expressed sympathy with the sufferers.

“I wish to express my own sympathy and that of the Government with the sufferers,” said Mr Savage, in an interview last evening after being informed by Mr Webb and Mr Semple of the widespread and serious damage. "Whatever is humanly possible for the Government to do to relieve the situation will be done. More has to be done than to straighten out the present difficulties. We have to look at the future as well, and it will be someone's job to make a complete investigation of the disaster with a view to preventing a recurrence in Hawke’s Bay and avoiding similar things happening in other districts susceptible to flooding as well.” A MAJOR CALAMITY.

In an interview last evening, Mr Semple said that as a result of the inspection already made it was estimated that the damage to public works, roads and bridges, exclusive of that to railway lines and that suffered by counties, would amount to £200.000. That was a rough estimate, which was the result of a very hurried examination. Indeed, the amount might be a great deal more than that sum. It was impossible to estimate the damage to private property at present. The occurrence was one of the worst calamities that had befallen the Dominion, and from the point of view of loss of property, both public and private, the damage appeared to exceed that caused by the Napier earthquake. In many places fences were completely covered with silt, and some of the houses were full of silt up to the windows.

Everything humanly possible would be done to give immediate relief and to restore conditions to normal, said Mr Semple. Prompt and speedy action had been taken by the Government to deal with the situation. It seemed that it would be necessary to transfer men and plant from the East Coast railway line and to muster competent labour and modern equipment so as to give the maximum relief in the minimum time.