GALE AND RAIN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 54, 18 May 1942, Page 5

GALE AND RAIN

FRIDAY NIGHT'S STORM ROAD SERVICES SUFFER LITTLE BOROUGH DAMAGE Following an easterly bluster on Friday a cyclonic storm developed steadily throughout the nighit and by the early hours of Saturday morning had' achieved first class gale proportions. The -storm which was widespread l ■over the whole of the Bay provided' one of the wildest nights this district has experienced for some yearst. Heavy downpours of rain punctuated the howling of the storm which blew consistently till daylight. The damage in the Borough was surprisingly light, there being little that could be classed as of a serious nature. In the country howsever fallen trees were responsible for dislocating the telephone service and for holding up passengers and mails from both Rotorua and Gisborne.

Fences and Outhouses The force of the gale in Whakatane itself played havoc with local gardens and fences'. Few homes escaped some slight discomfort either from water or from wind. Radio masts; also suffered; while at least one chimney is reported to have been -demolished. Some fences, were flattened in Douglas; street while large limbs were smashed off the Domain gum 'trees. Of the many windows which were ■driven in the greatest damage resulted in the Borough Council' offices where the rain played havoc nvith stationary and. other papers. .Another large pane was; blown in at the Commercial Hotel while in pri■vate houses there are innumerable other instances. On Hillcrest, in spite of the exposed: position" of the houses little damage was suffered, the explanation lying possibly in the fact tliat most of the buildings are of recent construction. In Louvain Street a large shed was unroofed while at "King Street numerous trees were mangled and torn. A large slip from the cliff at the rear of Messrs HamilL Brothers garage in George Street enveloped the car run-way to the second stroyey •and was removed during Saturday "morning.

POWER STOPPAGES FEW INTERRUPTIONS The Bay of Plenty power mains •withstood the test well and there ;were few interruptions. The worst break occurred; near Taneatua where -a large shed on Mr H. C. McCrcadiy s property was vjnroofed and the framing lifted bodily across the wires. Members of the trouble-staff were -quickly on the scene and repaired the damage by mid:-morning. One or two slight interruptions ;also occurred on the Otakiri link 'but in most instances the power was restored so as not to interfere with milking operations. The Borough supply was cut off several times between midnight and ■dawn but as in the county the full scrvicc was* restored with the mini;mum delay. COUNTY SUFFERS ROAD AND LINE. BLOCKINGS ■~s Traffic from llotorua was held up -early on Friday evening on account of two large trees which fell* across the roadwasy in the scenic reserve known as Hongi's Track. The trees were substantial and. required considerable effort to remove. Minor slips on the lake road also hindered the through traffic which was not fully restored till Saturday afternoon . The Gishornc route was also blocked at Waioeka where a substantial slip had fallen across the rood.way. Trees, adjacent, to the railway lines , wore responsible for holding up the early train at Otakiri and at Awakeri. In both instances these obstacles had to be cut alway. Roads on the main were, free from obstruction with one or two exceptions-, and the county engineer had little to report in the way of actual ■damage. (Continued in next column)

MOUNTAINOUS SEAS WILD SCENE AT HEADS BREAKERS AT OHO'PH Reminiscent of the storm three j years ago* when the heavy seas swept over the Heads road and invaded the foreshore at Ohope, last Saturday's storm was responsible for tiie highest seas seen this year. At the Heads the scene at high tide 8 a.m. was an unforgettable cne, the breakers leaping some fifteen or twenty feet before breaking. The water which- had banked up in the harbour crossed the roadway and invaded the lower levels about the Wairaka Pali. At Ohope the high seas swept the whole length of the sand bank while the surf was running high for two days.

ISOLATED ! TELEPHONE SERVICE dislocated ALL MAINS CUT OFF As the storm reached its height about 1 a.m. the telephone service which until then liiad' stood up to the strain surprisingly well started to fail. One by one the fifteen main lead's to the Whakatane exchange were eliminated 1 , until the whole' area was completely cut off from the outside. The only two remaining lines of any consequence were those to Taneatua and Te Teko. A large tree fell completely through the service lines at Onepu cutting off communication with. Ro-j torua, while the main northern line was severed early in the morning. The Waimana line held until fairly late but this too was finally interrupted. The lines staff were fuMy occupied during the whole of the weekend but even now as we go to press a complete survey of the damage has not been possible. The essential lines; were restored yesterday when it was found that most of the breaks had been caused by flying branches or falling trees. It is hoped to. have a complete restoration of the service within a day or two.

GISBORNE ROAD BLOCKED MAIL. SERVICES HELD UP Slips in the Waioeka and several minor washouts in the Waimana Gorge were responsible for helding up the mail, and passenger service from Gisborne and Opotiki over the week-end. The first indication was when the service car on Saturday morning failed to connect with the Taneatua express. The service was restored later in the day when the belated mails were sorted by special staff.