TREMENDOUS STORM AND TIDAL WAVE IN WELLINGTON

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1803, 31 March 1888, Page 2

TREMENDOUS STORM AND TIDAL WAVE IN WELLINGTON

Wellington. March 30

One of tho siver.sfc storms tht has be9n experienced here for years swept over the city on Wedoesday evening, accompanied by a tidal wave which ro?e m bhe harbor to wi f ,hin 18 inches of the breastwork. Tho Btortn caused vejy heavy damage m town, and the Government Ttaihvay line between Ka'nvarra and Potone is so far damaged tint it is anticipated that a large p »rt will have to ba reconstructs. A huge aea ruaninw up the Ohanoel from the heads directel its waves ogainat tho rai'way line along Petone beach, and basides the damage to the railway line it cirried away several boat sheds m Oriontal Bay j'lat opposite tha wharves, it tore down the side oi the Te Aro baths and drove ashore sev r il yachts. The freezing hullr, Jubilee, lying off Petone wharf parted her moorings an-J was driven against the wharf with tix thousand carcases of meat aboard It is not thought that aay serious damage was sustained. Iron roofs, windows and j chirm qjb also came m for attention, a j id several small buildings were wrecked.

The Hutt Park railway line sufEared by the South gale and thoße attending the races will have to go through the Lower Hutt. The attendance ia expected to be 89riou3ly affsctod. The "N.Z, Tunes" of Maroh 29 A aa y a : — The heavy aea which ran daring the later part of the afternoon did. terrible damage to the railway line between Wellington and the Hmt Valley, the practical effect being that the line frjm Kalwhara to Pitone was wrecked, and cannot be made available for traffic for some weeks. When the Wair*rap& trtin came through at mld-dsy yesterday no damage of any kind had been done ; the line waa aninjared from end to end. Inter on when the Hutt train arrived it 350 there was no sign of damage. The through train which leavea Wellington at 4 o'clock, however, had a rather risky journey from Kaiwhara to Ngauraoga, for the gale waa at that time at its height, and the tremendous force with which the aea, running at unusually high tide, struck the shore, had, m several places, undermined the foundations of the Hoe, which wan very shaky m a number of places, especially near Nganranga. At about a mile and ahalf paßt the Ngauranga station the passage of the train was stopped absolutely by a alip, which had washed the foundations from under the line It waa also found impossible to go back, for there ware, by this times, several breaks at the rear of the spot where the train stopped. The paßsengera, of whom there were a good number, got oat of the train, and sheltered themselves for a time aa beat they could from the wind and rain. Subsequently most of them were picked np by traps pasiiing by and taken on to P.tone, whore they fouud comfort at tb& Marine Retreat. It happened fortunately that Mr Dawson, the traffi; manages, was on the traiu, and under his direction every possible provision was made for the oonvemience of the late passengers. The railway authorities promptly took such tteps as were possible to keep the traffic up. Meafira Coitrell and Young's omnibuses were at once secured, and paßsengers by ordinary trains were taken out by them to Pitona, whenoa they coald be conveyed to their destinations, the lino being all right beyond that station. The 'busses proved a capital substitute for the railway cara, being capaclona and comfortable, while the distance is not long enough to make the difference m the time of the journey great enough to be sppreolablo. Intending passengers by the late traina wore taken out m this way, and m oabs, of which a Urge nnunber were laid oa. Tho Wairarapa train did not arrive at Pitone till 10 miunte3 past 9 last night, and its passengers and gooda "were brought into town by road. Oar special reporter, who went along the line l»at night, etatea that the damage done is Btartllng. Up to Kaiwhara the damage, if any, is very slight indeed, although the formation has baen i».j ired a little m plaoea. But between Kuiwhara and Ngauranga the formation may alao bo said to have been utterly destroyed, and the whole line will have to be bnilt up again. In come places the embankment has been forced, as it were, right up by the pressure of the water, and oovers the rails np; m other again the foundation has baen draggei right away, leaving the rails and Bieepers suspended like miniature bridges over gaps two or three feet deep. As you near Ngauranga the damage increases greatly . For about twenty yardß from the stone faolng m front of the station the raila on one side have been swept away, and the extent of the Bea which waa running during the afternoon is Bhowa by the circumstance that there are still pools of salt water on the road, and a thin coating of sandy mud was noticeable m the vicinity. Indeed, at one tinae during the afternoon the sea water had occasionally washed Into Oiapham'a Hotel, an d partially flooded the carriages of passing railway trains. The itone wall m front of the station has been literally awept aw*y, and sturdy aa the wall looked the water Woke it down and overwhelmed it, and tae occasional pieces of Btone standing now remind one of the ruins of an old fortress. The damage done here ia so extensive tVat the Government will probably take tht line along the back of th-e station for a time at all events. Further on the damage la still greaterThe gapa are longer, and the rails m many cases have no support at all for distanced of come yards. At the s*ot where some little time ago the fence tQ d line were shiftod back, tho rails and B oma of the sleepers (a great many having L 36n ffaß hed iway) are lying on the ground at the ttlglnal level. The train which wß nt oat it 4 o clock m the afternoon ia still on the ioe a mile and a-half beyond Wgatranga. When the train (which consist of i large engine of the B c ] aBO md several care) stopped there In ;he afternoon the line was Bafe and sound mder her ; but when oar reporter arrived* it about 8 o'clock tha raiia on the sea »lde had fallen m. considerably m consajuence of the formation In whioh they 3tood having bean washed away. The anglne canted over to the water side very much, though the oara stood tolerably straight, Undoubtedly the engine must have toppled over had not a queer-look-ing craft, which appeared to be the flooring of a very large room, and might nave belonged to one of the numerous boatsheda destroyed, been washed np right against it, and embedded m the Band there, thus shielding the line from tha force of the waves. A number of men were at work last night building np the line so as to keep the train Bafe. The concrete wall three mlle3 beyond Ngauranga haa been completely deatroyed, and hardly a chain of it is left standing. Iv this vicinity there has been a Blip from I the hill side, and the road la strewn with boulders. From this on to within a very short dlstancD of Pitone the same condition of things prevails ; and, m brief, the line is wrecked from Kalwhara to Pitonn