West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Friday 3 May 1929, page 21


ROADS UNDER WATER.

Subways and a House Flooded.

Broad expanses of water, in some cases 50 yards square, were formed by the rain

in some suburban areas where the drainage systems were unable to cope with the

volume of water. In Subiaco, on the corner of Heytesbury-road and View-street, there was at 4 p.m. a lake which was in places two feet deep and which had caused the flooding of a nearby house in which the water rose to a depth of nine inches and penetrated to every room. The water brought with it a generous measure of greasy mud, which caused acute discom-fort to the occupants. At one stage, lawns, gardens and the whole of the front and back yards of the house were invisible and considerable damage was done to articles of furniture, which included a piano, and clothes which had been left in trunks on the floor. Carpets were saved in time, but oil-cloths were reduced to a sticky pulp. The Kerr-street bridge over the railway line at West Leederville was a sheet of water, and, nearby, there was another pool on the corner of Thomas-street and Subiaco-road. This spot was made extreme-ly dangerous for traffic by piles of sand, which had been washed down by water from both streets and the Thomas-street School. A similar position confronted motorists on the Mount's Bay-road where, just opposite the Swan Brewery the waters had covered the road and had, incidentally, caused a small landslide on Mount Eliza so that the road was covered with sand. At one stage there were over 40 cars held up opposite the brewery. Subways at Mount Lawley and Claremont were impassable for traffic and, early in the morning the water was higher than the floor of a tram which was passing through the Mount Lawley subway and the pas-sengers were forced to stand on the seats. There was no accident to trams, however, except a derailment on the Cambridge-street (West Leederville) line, caused by a quantity of mud, soil and stones which the water had washed on to the line. In place of the green grass which usually covers the Esplanade, there was yesterday afternoon a sheet of water extending from end to end of the reserve and unbroken ex-cept iu a very few places of unusual ele-

vation. Cricket pitches were submerged and the tennis, courts and bowling green which adjoin the Esplanade also suffered from floods. Prospect of Further Rains. Rain was still falling up to a late hour last night and there was no indication of a diminution in the force of the disturb-ance. The forecast for to-day, as issued by the Meteorological Bureau, is as follows: — Still unsettled, with further rain over west and south-west coastal areas, the agricultural areas, and the Gascoyne and Coolgardie goldfields, with squally north-west to south-west winds and rough coastal weather.