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Story: Floods

Kōpuawhara No. 4 camp

Image
Rows of very small cabins and other buildings.

Photographed on 17 February 1938, two days before the disaster, this works camp was built on a small area of flat land. The bed of the Kōpuawhara Stream is to the left of the camp. As the river flats were well above the level of the river, this seemed a safe site.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/2-61445; F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Eileen McSaveney, Floods – The Kōpuawhara flash flood, 1938, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4883/kopuawhara-no-4-camp (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Eileen McSaveney, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 February 2024.