Wau's Record Rainfall

’ '.Prom Our Own Correspondent WAU, December 30.

TITORRENTIAL rains in early De- J. cember washed out the town roads of Wau, NG, and also the road between Wau and Bulolo at the mouth of Edie Creek. At this point, for a distance of approxi mately 200 yards, the road ledge was completely washed away and it is expected that repairs will take some time.

The effect of this road closure is that all cargo for Wau must now come in by air, at increased costs to the consumers However, the Administration Is co-operating by arranging charters to bring in the cargo at road-freight rates and New Guinea Goldfields Ltd. are back loading timber.

Some concern is felt by local re sidents at the unsatisfactory pro gress being made in the restora tion of the road, and two Public Meetings have been held to pro test strongly against the unsatis factory position.

It is now expected that a jeep track will be available along this portion of the road by early in January.

Rainfall for Wau during 1953 totalled 9,323 points and this is the highest yearly rainfall ever re corded over the 19 years in which records have been kept. The next highest yearly rainfall was in 1934

and the yearly average is 7,368 points.

Port Moresby Has Record

Dry Year

Port Moresby, on the other hand has had a record dry year—up till December 23, only 26 inches had been recorded at Jackson’s which is 15 inches below the previous lowest annual rainfall.

Since then the position has been

relieved somewhat by pre-wet sea son showers.

Local weather bureau officials said that the wet-season was late this year—the inter-tropical weather front that brought seasonal rain was still up around the equator in stead of being in the Bismark Sea.

Moresby meteorologists were not ex pecting Moresby’s wet to begin therefore until mid-January.

These Islands residents were in New Zealand in December (left to right): Major Willoughby Tottenham of Suva. Mr. and Mrs. W. Scarborough returned after seven

pears at Niue, where Mr. Scarborough was Post-Master and officer in charge of Radio Station. Kitione Lave, after vacation in Fonga, returned for some further ring encounters.