HURRICANE LOSS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20125, 20 December 1939, Page 7

HURRICANE LOSS

ENORMOUS DAMAGE NEW HEBRIDES SWEPT VILLAGES DEVASTATED MISSION SHIP RETURNS (Pur Press Association.) AUCKLAND, this day. A graphic story of the hurricane that swept the New Hebrides, levelling all the buildings in its path and uprooting trees, was told when the Melanesian Mission ship. Southern Cross, arrived at Auckland after 15 months’ trip to the islands. The motor ship encountered the full blast of tlie hurricane and, with her twin engines running at full speed, stood practically still in the face of an 80-miles-an-hour wind three miles off the Island of Toga. The only damage was to a lifeboat which was torn from its lashings and smashed in the raging sea. “Behaved Marvellously”

“The ship behaved marvellously,” said Captain T. A. Macpherson. “For a time we were worried about the steering gear-, but it held and the ship rode out the hurricane like a cluck. She shipped only two seas, but during the worst of the blow she was awash. Torrential rain fell throughout the hurricane. ' “Port Vila in the south missed the hurricane, but the islands in the north, especially Lama Langa, suffered badly, while on the island of Aoba, the settlement of the Lolowai was wiped out.

The only passenger on the ship during' the storm was J. Suit, one of the secretaries of the Bishop of Melanesia, who was at Tulagi in the Solomons. Terrible Night The scene of devastation on the island of Aoba was described by the Rev. H. Reynolds, Wellington, a missionary on furlough. Fie staled that night was a terrible one and that all the buildings had been razed, including the native church and school. More serious, however, was the loss of trees and fruit. At the school a new orange grove had been established and the fruit was ripening for the first crop. Every tree was uprooted, some being blown to the top of a mountain. Inland, c.oconut trees were blown over or stripped of all their fruit and foliage, while bananas and limes were ripped and battered, the ground being carpeted with a thick coating of fruit.

The damage is believed to be widespread on the other islands, especially those to the north. It was thought that the coconut plantations would suffer severely and that heavy losses would result to growers.

During the 15 months since she left New Zealand the Southern Cross did not sight another ship.