| Show NEW SOUTH WALES sydney are to the ol 01 julya sydney papers are filled with doleful accounts of the terrible floods storms of wind andrain that visited the colony during the month of june the record is truly dismal shocking and distressing not only to those who feel an interest in the prosperity of the colonies but to all who have a regard for humanity the weather was bad in the begian beginning ing of june on the coast and continued so up to the ath when it culminated in a tremendous storm better described as a hurricane which lasted four days without abatement of its fury the flood that inundated the countr stated to have been more terrible and devastating than any that has visited the colony since the first white man set his foot on the soil its re sult suit shave been most desolating making ing whole families homeless destroying life and property to an enormous extent the following extract from the sydney empire of july will convey to your readers some ome idea of the ravages of the flood an event that will be I 1 long remembered in new south wales great fear was entertained in the city of sidney that the low lying lands of the country most exposed to floods by reason of the numerous water courses falling through them and the narrowness I 1 an and d circuitous course of the outlet to the sea would he be inundated but no one expected that this was the beginning of the most disaster ous flood that had ever occurred in new south wales and that the sympathies of the peo people 10 se of the country would be taxed to a degree beyond an anything Y thing that had ever been previously known yet so it has proved on friday the of june accounts reached sydney which startled and alarmed the whole of the inhabitants and which unhappily proved to be true the whole of the valley of the hawkesbury river had been flooded to a hight unknown and unrecorded by the oldest inhabitant or by history the town of windsor was surrounded by water and so sudden had been the rush of the floods from the he high lands in consequence of the previous saturation of the ground round the farmers and their families tad ead nad to flee for their lives abandoning all they possessed to the raging waters the incidents that occurred were most shocking in one case a farmer sat upon the roof of his house with his family for twenty hours holding his youngest child in his arms until the infant from the reflects of cold and expo ekpo exposure sure for the rain was still pouring down in torrents and the whole of the surrounding land was one wide sea of water the father then had to throw his dead child into the flood andrake and take lake up another in the hope of preserving it on saturday morning the the house gave way and was swept down with the flood drowning the mother and nine other children the father and four others were saved by the boats which had been sent off to rescue these unfortunate sufferers by this time the whole of the valley was inundated kilin dated and the furtive district of richmond bich Eich mond presented the appearance of a great lake bears pears were felt that the town of windsor itself where at this time some thousands of persons were congregated would be involved in the general devastation but happily this did not occur the flood was so sudden and so overwhelming that all means of escape seemed to be cut off and many families some consisting of weak mothers and young children suffering from severe illness had to remain for hours on the roofs of their houses during the severest weather that has ever been known on this coast until succor could be given another account says the late flood has exceeded in its devastation all previous floods in new south wales on record the valleys of the hawkesbury hunter and other rivers have been submerged many lives have been lost and many more would have been sacrificed but for the p prompt dispatch of boats from sydney romia by the government and a large amount of property has been destroyed hundreds freds of families have been left destitute and their condition is most deplorable the people and the government are combining to raise funds for the relief of the sufferers many gentlemen have already subscribed liberally tradesmen have sent bread meat tea and sugar and the inhabitants generally are now actively engaged supplying clothing convening public meetings giving con aerts and adopting other means to increase the funds of the floods relief belief committee Comit tee many houses bridges and public works have been swept away and numbers of cattle drowned the shi shipping tc ping on the coast has not escaped wit without out sustaining considerable injuries from the earnestness with which the movement for relief I 1 is 3 t taken a ken I 1 up it is believed that a great calamity will be alleviated it will take a long time for the inhabitants to recover their losses |
