TROPICAL "BLOW"

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2134, 28 April 1914, Page 7

TROPICAL "BLOW"

SWEEPS ISLE OP AITUTAKI

LOSS OVER £50,000. (By Telegraph.—Press Association,) Auckland, April 27. An Aitutaki (Oook Islands) correspondent writes:—"The night of January 9, 1914, will bo ever remembered at this island as the date of the severest hurricane that has occurred here for the past fifty years. . Tho gale commenced at 7 p.m. on the 9th and was at its height at 3 a.m. on tho 10th. At 8 a.m. the wind lulled gradually. Next day the weather was normal. Tho barometer fell from 29.90 to 28.0 at 3 a.m. "The damage done is very difficult to estimate. It will"bo not less than £50;000. The orango crop has been totally destroyed. Thero will be no export of oranges from Aitutaki for 1914. There is not a banana treo left standing. The coconuts 'have stood tho hurricane well; although thousands of .trees have gone many thousands etill remain standing. Not twentv houses on the, island are now intact. Amongst other buildings' dostroyed are tho Government Courthouse and post offices and the trading stores'of tho Cook Island Trading Company, of Messrs. Jagger, Horvey, and Miller, and others. The churches of the London Missionary Society at Vaipao and Tautu have been unroofed. The island is now devastated and a sorry sight. "Amongst tho buildings which escaped are,; the : Government's hew house for tljfc Resident Agent, the wharf cargo sheds, the stores of Messrs. A. B. Donald, A. H. Browno, and W. T. Jewell, all of which remain intact, and little damage was done. The Roman Catholio Churoh stood strongly and is as good'as ever, although tho convent buildings of the Sisters of St. Joseph wero levelled to the ground. The native houses have been almost totally annihilated; only an odd house hero and there remains standing with its roof goiie. • Luckily no lives wero lost, the natives hiding themselves under fallen trees and under the floors of demolished buildings. • "During the height of the storm bread fruit (the staple food of the natives) and all similar food 1 .products > were totally destroyed, and the natives, who are now in a pitiable plight, will have to live on coconuts and iish, with what European foodstuffs they may be able to purchase. Rice, biscuits, flour, and sugar are being largely competed for, but only, small stocks remain in the hands of the. traders, and there will bo no furthor supplies until the April steamer arrives. The fallen coebnuts are being made into copra in order that provisions may bo purchased with the "A peculiar feature of the hurricane is the fact-that the sea was 'not very heavy and did no damage. The districts of Vaipao, Tautu, and Nikaupara suffered very'heavily and n6t a single house remained roofed. "The island' is now in a chaotic state and everyone is engaged clearing road 3, repairing houses, and generally getting rid .of the debris."