A former mayor of the municipality, Duncan Stewart Kennedy, and two young men – Norman Francis Matesich and Charles Thurling - were elected to fill three vacancies on the municipal council at an extraordinary election held on Saturday last.

Norman Matesich topped the primary vote; he was born and educated here, was in business in buses with his late father for some years before going into a garage business on his own account.

As the counting proceeded Alderman Matesich was the first elected. He teamed with Charles Thurling, junior, another young man born and educated here, and employed as a clerk with Oxley County Council at Wauchope. In the last distribution of preferences, Ald. Kennedy was elected.

Only 64 per cent of the eligible voters did so, though voting was compulsory. Flood conditions iwould have something to do with this, but the fine weather here was no excuse for local voters. A total of 3,964 votes were cast, with something like 6,000 electors on the roll.

On a fine sunny day there was a flood

With sunshine prevailing after dawn on Saturday, there was only a swollen river and debris tumbling out to sea to give some idea of the devastation which had struck the upper reaches of the Hastings River in a sudden unannounced flood.

At Port Macquarie it seemed incredible that at Wauchope and beyond the Hastings Valley was experiencing one of its worst-ever floods. Thankfully, there were no flood rains on the coast and no easterly gale to hold the flood waters up.

Rainfall registration at Wauchope on Friday morning was 258 points and 469 on Saturday morning, and at Port Macquarie 93 on Friday morning, 271 on Saturday morning. Further up the river the registrations varied between 16 and 18 inches for the two days.

Four major Hastings Shire bridges were washed away when the Hastings River and its tributaries rose to record height in the flood that followed the deluge of 12 to 16 inches of weekend rain received in the Upper Hastings District.

The bridges which varied from 200 to 500 feet in length were the Ballengarra Bridge at Rollands Plains, the Pappinbarra Bridge, the Brombin Bridge, and the Hursley Suspension Bridge. President of Hastings Shire Council, Cr. J. R. Andrews said a preliminary survey of damage to roads and bridges in the Shire, caused by the flood of the past few days was estimated to cost in excess of $700,000.