SHIPPING BUFFETED

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 138, 7 December 1929, Page 9

SHIPPING BUFFETED

LIFEBOATS CALLED OUT

DAMAGE AND FLOODS

British Official Wireless.

RUGBY, 6th December. Warnings of the approach of bad weather were given by wireless last night, and small vessels remained in harbour. Notwithstanding this, manycargo ships were disabled and passenger ships were heavily buffeted. The liner Eanchi, on arrival at Plymouth, reported that the seas in the English Channel were the worst encountered for years. When the storm was at its height wireless reports stated that the French steamer Cambroune and the British steamers Valaeia and Eowanburn were out of control owing to damaged steering gear. The Danish steamer Helen reported that her engines were completely disabled. Appeals from the Danish steamer Guscho brought two tugs from Swansea to her assistance. The Swedish motor-vessel Balaklava reported that the hurricane had damaged her bridges and flooded the cabins amidships, causing delay. Lifeboats were called out during the day from several stations around the British coasts. Two houses in London and several in other towns collapsed during the storm, and many cases of trees, hoardings, and walls being blown down are reported. Roads in several parts were temporarily blocked by fallen trees, and Lon-don-Bournemouth railway traffic was delayed for three hours owing to a tree falling across the rails. The flooding of the suburban line near New Bekhenham, Kent, necessitated the cutting off of current for electrical trains. A large number of telephone wires were brought down by the storm. The Newhaven-Dieppe steamer serVf C6S v VT cailcrflu<l, and the Folhe-stone-Boulogne services were diverted via Dover. Anxiety regarding floods' in the lower reaches of the Thames was expressed ln^qU^-lOn in the Hou^ of Commons. The Minister of Health (Mr. Greenwood) replied that 'the matter was under consideration, but it was difficult to promise that measures could be taken to prevent floods.