CONDITIONS IMPROVING

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 89, 17 May 1929, Page 7

CONDITIONS IMPROVING

STOCK LOSSES FEARED. Report From Hastings. Patches of blue skv, a glimpso of tlie sun sliining throngh clouds and an absence of rain were tlio features of this morning' s weather in Hastings, and thcto three tliings wero welcomed with great joy, for the indications were taken hy Ihe majority of jieople to mcan an end of the wot llood period and relief to tlio.se in tho llooded areas. RAPSDLY GOING DOWN. During la.-t night, there wero several hcayy showers of rain, bufc they came at intervals, and geiierallv iniproved conditions are reported in all quarters. Ihe rivers are rapidlv going down, thanks to the ccssatiou oi the rain in tiifi_ hack country, and gcuerally the position is now much more hope tui. Communication hctween Hastings and Napier is now wcll established, yia Fernhill, which mad however, is in anything hut a good condition, and also yia Havelock North and tlie AVaitangi, and tlie raihvay services are ahle to he kept up only a few minutes heliind schedule time, the delay lieing due to ihe slow s()ced nccessary throngh the area betwcen Clive and Tomoana. Of course there is still a large' amount nf surface water in all direetions. and ihe niain road is still hlockod at ihe Karamu hridge. Ilere ihe water is getting av.'iy wcll hut it will he sonie time hefore iliis brirlgo is clear. SEEN BY A I R. A'csterdav afternoon Capioiu 'J'. A\*. AVluto in the N.B. Aero Cluh's Alolh plaue made a. lliglit over ihe llooded areas •oi" Pakowhai, Fernhill, Clive, Meanee. Taradale and Awatoto and his iniprossious wero tliat jjractieally the whole of tbose areas were under a sheet of water. Jle found that Clive was quit'e dr.v on tho southern side of tlie river hut on tho northern side there, was nothing hut water. Tn the course of his tour Captain AVhit-e located a bateh of 30 or 40 stranded slieep in the vicinity of Clive and was ahle to inform their owner hut lio expressed the opinion that hoats would be necessary to resruo tliem. LOSSES OF STOCK. AVith sucli conditions ruling, it is natural that tliero sliould have heen a certain amount of stoek losscs, hut on account of the fact that fair warning of the impending fiood was avnilable thcse losscs are not nearly so heavy as they might have heen. WILLING HELPERS. A featuro of the fiood period has beeu tlio willing assistauco givcn by all who wero in a position to liclp, and in this respect a mend of prai.se is due to 15 stalwart residents of Haumoana, who workod voluntarily for several hours at tlio tusk of keeping tho moutli of tlie Tuiti Tuiti as wide and as decp a.s possihle. There is no doubt that their elforts. in no small lueasure, i helped tlie fiood waiora to got away with greater freodom than would otlicrwiso hai'e been the case. POSITION MUCH EASIER. Rcports from AYhana AA'liana this mornmg eonfirm tho iuforination that tlioro was not much rain last night-, and that the position was vnsH.y iniproved throngh the subsiding of the river by several feet. ON THE LIN E. On the raihvay line between Hastings and Napier, tlie position is all clear except for a streteh between AYliakatu bridgo and Tomoana. Tliis is still under water, necessitating slow travel, but generally tho waters have recedeil to a very considcrahle extent.