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Tuesday 27 June 1950
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FLOODSSUESIDING SLOWLY; TRAIL OF
DESTRUCTION
V SYDNEY, -Monday,*,
Leaving -.a .trail of death and destruction, muddy /floodwaters / are slowly-subsiding in the water ravaged .arcas from Newcastle te the Queensland bordere ,'? . ' --?- ¦ -\ ¦¦?, ; -."'
Extremely heavy seas' are still pounding the New South Wales coast, and the State Weather Bureau has warned shipping of gales andsforrns.
(Fears aro .'held for the .'safety of the small. island trading ves- sel Awahbu, which is more than 30 hours overdue with a cargo of disposal; goods from the Solomon Islands. ?¦? ' -.?
More than 100 volunteers are waging a 2-1-hour battle against nraindiivr seas which -threaten two :Sydney surf, clubs worth- a total value <of £30,000. The clubs are North Steyne and Cronulla.
Flood deathroll in the Grafton district reached four to-day.
Frederick Ayres, 35, -was drowned at Ulmarra, 12 miles down river from Grafton. , .
'A-new flood -threat has- devel- oped.at four^mOre-towns.1 '' ?
The- -towns - are Moree, s Goondi- windi, Windsor and Richmond. .
A huge volume of water on the Gwydir River is moving down on Moree :and is.expected to en- ter the ' town to-morrow. Resi- dents are preparing to evacuate if necessary. ] I ' Further north, at Goondiwindo,
lon the Queensland border, 251 I miles south-west of Brisbane, re
siderits -are standing , by with boat's iii; readiness-'for a general evacuation. : -. ,l
; The.'Macintyre River, ts roaring under' the Border "bridge;- close
to the town's main street . It had- reached ,32 feet, 8 inches at 6 p.m. and is expected -to go .to /34 feet" ;'? .". '. '..,"¦?'? :^,,,.?:;;'":'¦?
\ At Winusor arid Richmond re- sidents .are preparing .tb evacuate if necessary. 'The Hawkesbury: is rising six inches an hour. ;
All train services to, Northern
j and North Coast', towns .'beyond Newcastle "have f been' suspended I because of thc floods. "'Only a | limited number- of .trairis.,is -op-
erating in'daylight on the IUa
warraVli'he. -
Only sporadic telephonic^ cbn i tact;-is.-possible between lT3ydriey,
! an,d-rMaitland, Taree, -Kempsey,' ! CbfFs -.-Harbour and-Grafton:.!;'.' ! To-morrow a .R.A;A.E.; plane" | will-fly. blood-plasma tb Lismore', 1 and penicilin to Kempsey. The plane -will also.carry 1,000 blan-
kets. - ? . ?' -¦-¦'
Reports From Flood Areas
Here arc reports from flood
centres to-night: ' --. ,
Kempsey.?The water supply j has failed and the sewerage sys- j tem has broken down. The flood ' relief committee is making ar- rangements for emei-gency mea-
sures.
Group Captain .E. G. Fyffe, who flew a Dakota over Kempsey this afternoon, said the river had fallen considerably.
"We cbu'id see people who had been shelterihg-*-'ori,i-roof-tops^
standing at the door of their' homes in about one foot of wa- ter," Group Captain Fyffe said.
An unknown number of farm- ers is isolated along the river banks as far down as Belligen, 50 miles from Kempsey. Concern is felt for their safety and1 army "ducks'1 are racing to rescue
them.
Silt and debris are consider^ ably greater than in. the disas-
trous 1949 floods.
West Kempsey is separated by a raging torrent more than ten feet deep. '
, A R.A.A.F. Dakota dropped 5,000 lbs of flour, sugar and yeast in 25 separate drops this, af terr noon. . '
(Maitland.?The 22,000 residents spent a tense 25-hours expecting tile last bulwark" against the swollen Hunter River?Jenkins
Dam, at Oakhampton?to burst t at any moment.
Late to-night the banks were still intact, and the river- was gradually receding. At 10 p.m. the river level was 34 feet, and had dropped three inches in the past hour.
A radio truck is standing by j
at tile dum and is sending a report every 15 minutes to coun-
cil officers on the condition of the |
banks.
If thcf banks give way--a terri-
fic- surge of -water?'¦¦"-¦.will" rush' j through the city. . ? ! .'?' ', ¦'
]¦ "> he' Mayor,- Aid. A.:S...McDo,n
ald, said-to-night, "Wc are^ say- ing prayers that the banks Will
hold for ,at least six.-or seven hours. If they do we may'.wiri through." .
Grafton.?The Clarence River, district, suffering from the .worst
flood disaster in history,;.was?,«.'' scene of desolation to-day. JRecedr' ing. floodwaters left, huge "heaps «£*;.Bebris,':i%resideBtial'fareas?,o*: ¦'Grafton and .South Grafton, \'.'?'
? Primary - production i is <at.:.--* standstill and may Mnot .be -.re- sumed for weeks.-,.. .¦?'""""' ';'
Grafton and '; South iGrafton firms .lost £100,000 in damage to shops and.ruined .stock.'..-'.;..;'-?
Frederick:Charles Ayres, poul: try farmer, Was found dead in the yard of his home ,.at .Ulmarra. Police think he was trapped ;by, a raging torrent..
Lismore.?Floodwaters are re- ceding over all the "Richmond district and it is ;Possibliei to. as- sess some of thedamage.
A Woodburn police boat took a doctor four miles' down, the Rich-
mond .after ...midnight .-last^night to.attend to.an expectant .riiother*
? The boat was .met byya'Civil; Aviation Department official iii'a truck and, the. .doctor, .was con- veyed to a residence, .at' ;Evaris Head. - . ,...,,. . .
I--...The house was isolated; .and without light vor.power.
The baby-was.born safely, and the mother .later .taken' to rf riends at Evans .Head. .:....¦;,, '."
Tareen?The,Manning River ia dropping fast now that the Taree bar has been breached and- all. danger has -passed.
Armidale. ? The Dumaresqup Creek ls. now'back within its banks, but heavy Tain, torrdght ls liable to flood! the, creek ;again in the next few days. ". ."" ' *'?
.Coffs Harbour.?The; 23..'inch&s of rain which" flooded tlic district during the past seven days has caused enormous Ramage to
farmlands.
Agricultural Aid
¦ ? From :Staitel.;.(;:v-''.',';;
All the resources.of; the;'Agri- cultural, Department' >vbuid 'jbe thrown into the task of rchatiilf I tating primary, producers 'whoso
iproperties 'had :beeriA(devastated . j by the disastrous 'floods' on the North Coast, tho 'Minister', for
] Agriculture, Mr. ''E. 'H.' Graham; isaid to-day'. ' ,¦.¦'".,'' . '';!v-' '"''-!:
I Mr. Graham said that the 'offic-
ers of his department 'whd'-were ?-v.mbers of the "Flood Relief Committee .had -boen-;ln constant : touch with field, officers.' during
the past fcw;days. ;¦ '..-.. . ;': ">
"All officers'are .working'lin close co-operation -with'the 'police and local authorities,^-.lie 'said-.'
"Many ' people 'on 'the ? North Coast are facing Up to;avmajor flood disaster, for..,the 'second, j third and, in sonic ' cases, tho
r ...v ,.:,,1C within the .past llvo years," liu'nafclKS-.v
Coal Position ^ ;
A .Iiiint Cnnl't3oiir(1.:.'3t.)nKrfini;m
'«M|d to-night that unbmelal rai
tioning of coal to 'essential ser- vices nnd general "industry had already begun. " . '
Ho said, "The, coal stock-posi- tion is very.-grim'.'".?.'," '¦".-'?."¦
Although thc Coal'Board had not. yrt. (llsoussi>d_ bincVal .ratlori ''<v, .Hie gunct'iil- pbiiitlbn ion the ¦N.RW, coalfields .' because "of floodlngs had already forced tho I Board to cut supplies ¦ tb; Consu- mers'. ?.'].:'\" : .^