WORST STORM EVER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 873, 20 July 1910, Page 7

WORST STORM EVER.

——o ■" —■ ——■ ' HAVOC AT SYDNEY. GALE OF EIGHTY MILES AN HOUR BUILDINGS WRECKED. By Telegraph—Press Association-Copyright. Sydney, July 19. Yesterday's storm was the strongest in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, some of the gusts of wind travelling at the rate of 80 miles an hour. Hundreds of umbrellas were turned inside out, and there are great piles of them in the gutters. At the different comers many buildings wero ujiroofed, and otherwisedamaged. A lady in North Sydney had a miraculous escape. She was lying on a sick bed when the whole of the chimney, with part of the roof, fell on her bed. She was injured, but not seriously. Another chimney fell between a man and his son, who were a few feet apart. Neither was touched. Along the coast seas are tremendous, and shipping is sheltering in all' the ports. It is worse than the big gale in 1904. ' .. . Owing to snow in the Blue Mountains the railway service is disorganised. 'It is reported that several railway engines have been derailed, but owing to the breaking of the telegraph lines details are not available. It is learned, however, that thero is over four feet of snow on the track in many places. By this morning the storm had abated and the rain cleared, but the weather is very cold. SYDNEY ALMOST ISOLATED. SUBURBAN CHURCHES WRECKED. ALMOST EVERYTHING MOVABLE SHIFTED.' . •(Bee. July 19, 4.10 p.m.) Sydney, July'l9. The abatement of tho storm was only temporary..j At ten o'clock the rain again poured doivn on the city streets, converting them into sheets of water. The low-lying suburbs are.partly submerged, and residents are moving from them. ■ The telephone and telegraph wires are down, and Sydney is almost isolated. Details of the damage are slowly coining to liand. , At Coogee the ladies' baths were partially washed away. Sirs. Bassett, the keeper, ,who lived on the premises, is. now missing. • '.., At Kensington, a pony in a paddock wa"s blown over, and almost buried in sand. The animal had to be dug out. At Bondi two ladies were blown over and rolled along the beach. One . regained her feet, but had her skirts torn off by tho gale. Both then lay flat, and waited for assistance, which was rendered with great difficulty. .. The Paddington Town Hall, a large and substantial building,/ was partly unroofed, and a children's dance broken up. ■ . , At Mosman a cab was blown over, and the driver's .arm fractured. North Sydney, Neutral Bay, and the high suburbs, wero fully exposed to the force of the wind, and everything movable changed its location.'" Trees forty feet high wore uprooted and carried several yards, and the roof of a house was hurled against a butcher's establishment, completely wrecking it. * A brick Church of England, only recently completed, had one of its main walls blown in,, and was unroofed. At AVilloughby the Congregational Church was lifted off its piles'and-badly smashed. It is still raining heavily at noon. EIGHTY TELEPHONES FUSED. . REMARKABLE OCCURRENCE AT KATOOMBA. WIRES DOWN EVERYWHERE. (Rec. July 19; 9.10 p.m.) Sydney, July 19. The gale uprooted and,smashed trees in all directions, and destroyed many telegraph poles, telegraph lines-in some cases are down for long distances. ... Tho telephone services are badjy disorganised, and a great number of subscribers are cut off. ' Repairers are at work . ■■■; ' At Katoomba SO telephones were fused during an electrical disturbance. NEPEAN IN HICK FLOOD. COLLISION IN HARBOUR. , (Rec. July 19, 10.25 p.m.) -' Sydney, July 19. At tho height of the'blow to-day, the steamer Hunter (1840 tons), of .Newcastle and Hunter River line, was blown against the -Huddart-Parker liner Wimmera, slightly damaging. her bulwarks. - / ■ . Tho Nepean River is in ' high' flood, and a large area is inundated. The residents on the. flats are moving ' to highet , ground. ' , •■' WEATHER STILL UNSETTLED. ORDER BEING RESTORED. \ (Rec. July 2Q/ l'.lO a.m.) .'.':■. ; ' Sydney, July 19.. The rain has stopped, but the weather is still unsettled and the sea rough. The mountain lines have been cleared of snow and' trains are running. The telegraph lines' are being slowly restored to working order, but many stations are still cut out and all news is many hours behind. .TRAFFIC SUSPENDED AT CAMDEN. (Rec. July 20, 1.23 a.m.) Sydney, July 19. Traffic on the Camden line has beeni suspended owing to tho flood in ' tho Nepean River. ■