A WHIRLWIND

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 75, 16 October 1939, Page 4

A WHIRLWIND

THORNTON COWSHED GREAT POWER OF SQUALL v A freakish whirlwind swept in matjl from the sea over the Thornton district on Thursday' at midday and in the space of a few seconds ran riot across the farm of Mr T. M. Grant, Thornton road, snapping trees, unroofing a cowshed, lifting out a power pole, and ripping boards off the house. No one was injured and stockf > escaped harm. The squall blew up about ten minutes past twelve sweeping across the Orini bank from seawards. As it raced across Mr Grant's farm it broke the tops off six to nine inctt cabbage and gum trees and swung them up in the air. Hitting the cowshed it ripped the roof oft' and the sheets of iron sailed up a 100 feet, spinning round in the vertex. A gate was lilted off its hinges, and sucked out of a trough, while er pole carrying the line to was pulled out of the ground and broken into bits, Washing on the line .was \vhippecl away in a flash and, the edge of the storm struck the house and broke a couple of boards off it.

Fortunately both house and shed are set in concrete and the wind could not get underneath them. Proof of the force of the wind is shown by the fact that timbers from the shed were driven into the ground as though by a giant hammer and the sheets of iron thrown 15 or 20 chains away. Mr Grant at the time of the storm was in his maize crib with his small son. When the whirlwind roared across the farm he put the boy down in a corner and covered him with sacks and protected him, but the crib was not in the path of the destructive wind. Mrs Grant said that she was inside the house. She described the roaring and destruction as a good imitation of an air raid. She said that at first she could not believe her eyes when she saw the shed ripped off and the iron spinning crazily upwards. Then she became interested at the weird spectacle, but she ceased to enjoy it when her washing on the line was snatched away and thrown on to other farms. The wind had a good lug at the house, but only minor damage was caused.

Carriers who were passing saw the shed roof fly off, and they decided it was no place in which to linger, so they flew otT in their turn. They were pelted with hail which they said was so ';eavy so to clog the windscreen wiper and blot out vision. Power board workmen on the Wha katane golf links saw the wind vortex approaching and noticed in its centre what they first thought to be leaves. Later they realised that the objects were sheets of iron. Leaves and Iwigs were actually carried by the whirlwind as far as the golf links and dropped on the fairways. Fortunately the milking machinery was not damaged. The power board quickly restored current, and neighbours lent a hand to salvage iron and assisted in other ways.