SERIOUS GALE

Hokitika Guardian, 25 October 1928, Page 3

SERIOUS GALE

DAMAGE IN BRITAIN (British Official Wireless.) ■ , RUGBY, October 22, A large part of the British Isles were swept by a severe gale during the wee > end and much damage on land qnd at sea is reported. The extent of the damage to shipping is not yet fyU” Renown, but several small vessels were wrecked and the crew of one df them spent Friday night on the reef off the coast". She was a Dublin trawler which, in the mountainous seas ,was di-iven ashore. •

One member of the crew, in an attempt to jump on to the rocks, was drowned, but the others waited until daylight enabled them to get''ashore. Signals from the trawlers were heard on land, but owing to the darkness she could not be located.

The coastal steamer St. Brandon was wrecked at Tobermory, but the crew, acting under the directions of the cantain, satured bedding with paraffin and fired it. After a long wait they took to the boats as the vessel was sinking, but all were ultimately rescued by a trawler which, attracted by the flare, came to their assistance. The Heysham to Belfast steamer Duke of Argyl on Saturday morning received the full force off the gale, which reached a speed of nearly 70 miles an hour, and on arriving at Heysham harbour, the steamer was carried against the stone pier with such force that her hull and deck were damaged.

Southern Railways’ cross channel steamer Vera, which left Southampton for Jersey on Friday night with 112 passengers on board, had,to shelter off the Isle of Wight and was 24 hours late in arriving at her destination. Throughout the journey do\vn the channel she was fighting a high wind.

On land material damage was considerable, and trees and telegraph poles were thrown down in sever a parts, while in South Wales extensive floods were caused, in the Rhondda valley, and in some parts the maip railway line was blocked by fallen debris. Two persons were killed during t ic gale, which turned northwards at Holyhead, when at its height, with a velocity of 91 miles an hour.