MINUTES OF TERROR

Evening Star, Issue 24284, 27 August 1942, Page 4

MINUTES OF TERROR

TORNADO SWEEPS KAITAIA NINE STREET CASUALTIES-ONE FATAL (P.A.) WHANGAREI, August 2(3. A tornado which struck Kaitaia just before 11 o’clock this morning killed a boy, injured eight persons, and did damage to property estimated at approximately £60,000. The roofs of shops were blown in, but the occupants escaped injury. All the casualties occurred in the streets, being caused by Hying pieces of iron, shattered window panes, and pieces of verandah posts. The boy killed was Terence White, aged 10. The eight persons injured were taken to hospital.

The visitation, which was preceded by thunder and a heavy hailstorm, followed by light rain, was of only two minutes’ duration, but for a large number of people in the heart of the town it was two minutes of terror. The suburban areas escaped almost unharmed. hut in Awanui road, portion of which was in a direct line with tho path of the tornado, a new house was lifted, turned completely round, and clashed to pieces. On the coast at Waipapakanri, considerable damage was clone to’ property and machinery, and several persons were slightly injured. The worst damage was 'suffered by the firm of Messrs Archibald and Sons Ltd. Two-thirds of the roof of the firm’s main shop in Commerce street was blown away, and its second store, on tho corner of. Awanui road, was wrecked. Tho replacement of the stock and) buildings, it is estimated, will cost in tho vicinity of £7,000.

The damage and casualties in the town occurred within the space of five seconds, but a penetrating roaring noise continued for about two minutes. Some distance south of the town a milking shed was flattened. To quote the words of the owners, “ it disappeared into the hills.” Sheets of roofing iron which were whirled from the town are lying on high country in the vicinity of the reservoir nearly two miles away.

Kaitaia is under military control. Pickets have been on duty since 1 p.m., and will remain on guard throughout the night. W.W.S.A. officials opened! a service clubroom immediately, and it is estimated that within two hours between 400 and 500 hot meals and cups of tea were distributed to E.P.S. workers and members of military demolition squads. Clearing operations are proceeding with great speed. Most of the Ibuildings affected are of wood, which is making temporary repairs much easier. Windows are being hoarded up, roofing material collected, the streets swept, and stocks stored away from the weather.

GALE DAMAGE IN TARANAKI. (P.A.) NEW PLYMOUTH, Aug. 26. Damage was done in many parts of the coastal district of Taranaki to-day by a violent southerly gale, the districts that suffered most severely being Oakura and Okato. Two roofs of a public hall and of a dwelling at Oakura and a house at Okato wore blown off. Several sheds were blown down, and the chimney of a newly-built dwelling was razed. ” Trees on many farms were uprooted. . There was an exceptionally heavy fall of rain at Rahotu, where water entered a store and several houses, tho roofs of which were dainagod by the storm. Power and telephone lines were broken in several localities, and the eleotricitv supply to many farms in the Okato district had not been restored to-night, ... An elderlv woman, Miss A. Whiting, was blown ‘ over by a sharp gust of w-ind at New Plymouth, and suffered a dislocated shoulder. She w.as admitted to the hospital. RED CROSS AID OFFERED (P.A.) WELLINGTON. Aug. 27. The Now Zealand Red Cross Society has wired its sympathy to "the tornado sufferers at Kaitaia. intimating that assistance is available through its disaster relief fund.