SERIOUS FLOODS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 March 1940, Page 6

SERIOUS FLOODS

PORTION OF GREVMOUTH INUNDATED WATER TWO FEET DEEP. LOWER TOWN LEVELS AFFECTED. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. WELLINGTON. This Day. The Grey River had overflowed its banks, inundating the lower portion of Greymouth to a depth of two feet, according to a message received by lhe Director-General of the Post and Telegraph Department at 9 o'clock last night:. At 8 o’clock the Grey River at Brunnerton was 21 feet above normal, a rise of 4 feet since 1 p.m. At Greymouth the river was lapping the decking of the wharves and water was banking along the channels and footpaths of Tainui and McKay Streets and Mawhera Quay. It was feared that the lower town levels would be seriously inundated at high tide at .3 a.m. Rain had ceased in the province, and it was considered that rivers would not rise further. TRAFFIC HELD UP ANOTHER LARGE SLIP NEAR OTIRA. WEST COAST PRACTICALLY ISOLATED. Heavy rain and severe electrical storms last night caused further railway and road slips throughout the whole district. Railway and road communication between the West Coast and Canterbury is cut off, the storm bringing down another large slip at Jackson’s. Temporary repairs since Monday’s slip were washed away. Nearer Otira a big wash-out suspended several chains of railway line in the air. There is a subsidence near Kaimata and slips at Inchbonnie and Kotuku. On the Reefton line a slip at Taipoiti has blocked transport. In the Teremakau district two spans of a bridge over Kumara-Mitchell’s Road were carried away. Both approaches to the Wainihinihi bridge have gone. Two families are marooned on an island in the Teremakau Settlement and the police are attempting to rescue them by boats. Little damage is reported at Greymouth. The Lewis Pass Road is now blocked, and the coast is practically isolated.

WATERS RECIFE HOPED WORST OF FLOOD MAY BE OVER. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) GREYMOUTH. This Day. By 1,30 a.m. this morning the waters in the streets of Greymouth wore receding considerably, and it is hoped that the worst of the flood is over, though full tide will occur again at 4 a.m. The Blackball Bridge is still intact, but it is badly out of alignment. It will be closed till further notice. The two ships in port, the Kakapo and the Kaimiro have extra hawsers and cables out and have stood up to a severe buffeting. It is apparent that they are causing considerable shoaling at the berthages. The weather appears to have taken a turn for the better, the wind having changed to the south-west.