Whirlwind Strikes Westport

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31003, 8 March 1966, Page 18

Whirlwind Strikes Westport

(New Zealand Press Association) WESTPORT, March 7. A whirlwind hurtled in from the sea about 9.30 tonight and left a trail of damage across three blocks of Westport.. No-one was seriously hurt.

The whirlwind damaged the roofs of several houses and demolished the verandahs of two others.

Helpers and neighbours made temporary repairs by the light of car headlights. Power was cut off in a large part of the town for 20 minutes. In Romilly street, Mr and Mrs J. L. Williams were in bed when the whirlwind stnick their house. Part of the roof was ripped off and hurled to the rear of the

house, wrecking a glass-, house.

Flying glass struck Mr Williams on the chest and his wife on the neck, but the injuries were not serious. The couple and their children were taken to a house owned by relatives. Neighbours and friends were looking for the occupants of a house in Peel street, the first block to feel the impact of the whirlwind. A large section of roof was torn off the house.

A lean-to garage opposite was hurled to the ground, but the light car underneath was not seriously damaged. A number of small sheds and fences in the path of the wind were blown down. One house lost the top of its chimney.