FLOOD AFTERMATH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 April 1938, Page 6

FLOOD AFTERMATH

DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS IN ESK VALLEY FARM LANDS COVERED WITH SILT SOME HOUSES ALMOST BURIED (By Telegraph—Press Association.) NAPIER, April 29. A tour of inspection through the Esk Valley yesterday revealed conditions unprecedented in the history of the district and fully as bad as those reported earlier in the week. The whole valley is a sea of silt and wreckage. The flood waters have receded, leaving silt over everything, varying in depth from two to twelve feet. A photograph taken yesterday shows a man stepping off silt on to the roof of a house. Another photograph depicts mud and wreckage hiding a whole residence up to its eaves. The main road, which recently was resurfaced with bitumen, is completely covered under feet of silt. At one point it is almost possible to reach up and touch telephone wires. Fence lines have disappeared and the whole scene is one of utter desolation. It must be months before direct road communication with the north can be restored. The removal of silt from farm lands is out of the question, and farmers will have to start again on the surface of the heavy silt deposit.