BOMBAY CYCLONE

Grey River Argus, 24 November 1948, Page 8

BOMBAY CYCLONE

BOMBAY, Nov. 22.

Seven persons were killed and 100 injured in a cyclone which has isolated Bombay and an area of about 70 miles around the city from the rest of India. The storm was the worst ever recorded in western Indian The police said thousands of huts housing poor people were blown away. They have promised shelter to 25 000 homeless people. Troops have been called in to clear the streets, most of which are blocked with trees. Armed police are patrolling the city and have threatened to shoot looters. Shipping is paralysed. The extreme danger signal" has been hoisted in the port, where hundreds of small craft have been reduced to matchwood and a motor vessel was sunk. AT A STANDSTILL

Work was practically at standstill in banks and business houses to day, because the staffs were unable to‘reach the city. The electricity supplies at the main power station have failed so that trams and trains are stopped. Departures and arrivals of trains at Bombay have been suspended indefinitely. Five inches of rain were recorded in the last 24 hours.

With Bombay isolated the rest of India received news of the cyclone Bombay’s newspaper presses came through London.

to a standstill when the wind blew down five long-distance electric generators. All electric railways, factories and mills and the homes of 3,500,000 people are without power or light. Military sappers are using bulldozers to clear trees from the streets. Only a few flickering gas lamps lit the streets when darkness fell. The Government declared a public holiday because the workers were unable to operate factory machines. A curfew has been imposed to Drevent looting and the public has been warned by drum beats not to move out.