STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

Gisborne Times, Volume LXI, Issue 9854, 6 November 1924, Page 2

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

HOUSE WRECKED IN SYDNEY

PORTION OF THE POOF REMOVED.

SHOWER OF FALLING TILES

SYDNEY, Oct. 2

A flash of lightning struck and unroofed the front portion cf the home of Mr Arthur Degotardi, at Woolstor.-cra-ft, Sydney, last Sunday afternoon. The occupants of the house were terrified bv the tremendous thunderclap. The roof was torn off and. the top* of the building .shattered. No one was injured. Residents in the adjoining premises were also alarmed by the explosion, and their fears were increased by a ram of falling tiles, torn from the house which had been struck.

Mr Degotardi was in a garage at the rear of his home when the flash struck his house. There was a, tremendous crash, followed instantly by a roaring noise and a blinding flash of light. Mr Degotardi rushed to the front of the premises, -and saw that it had been partially wrecked. The explosion had* torn the roof, lifted the tiles high into the air. flinging them great distances. The ceilings of the front rooms, although they sagged, regained their position. The nails, however, were left protruding, having been almost torn out. Interior damage by the heavy rain which accompanied the disturbance was reduced by the fact that the fr o brigade spread tarpaulins over the brokc-u roof.

Lightning appeared to strike the electric tram wires in front of the Waverley nolicc station about the same time, and thus was provided a brilliant .but .alarming spectacle. There w.-v; a reverberating boom as the lightning struck and a ball of fire of blinding intensity travelled along. the overhead wires with a “sizzling” sound for a considerable distance. An investigation showed that no material damage had been done. The residence of Mr Alfred Morgan, of Benson Street, Rydc. was, with its contents, destroyed by fire. Mr and Mrs Morgan were away from home at the time. TV hen discovered by neighbors, the flames were practically confined to the roof, which gives the impression that the fire was caused by lightning.