GREAT STORM

Hokitika Guardian, 7 December 1929, Page 5

GREAT STORM

AROUND BRITAIN

MANY SHIPS SUFFER

(United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.)

RUGBY, Dec. f>

Several lives wo re lost and widespread damage was done to property on land and sea by the worst storm for many years. A violent southwesterly gale swept over the British Isles on Wednesday night, and continued with unabated fury throughout tlic greater part of the day. Tn the Channel and North Sea, extremely heavy sens are running, and much of the shipping made for shelter, where available.

The fishing trawlers reached Hull in a battered condition, the crews describing the gale as being as bad as any they had ever experienced. Near Bristol, railway traffic was suspended by a .steel crane having been blown down on to the line. The gale was accompanied by torrents of rain which he-’pod to increase the flooded areas, particularly in the Thames Valley.

The velocity of the wind varied, but in some parts of the country gusts exceeding ninety miles an hour were registered, and in many places between 70 and 80 miles. Warnings of the' approach of the bad weather were given by wireless on Wednesday night, and small vessels remained in the harbour, hut many cargo ships were disabled, and passenger ships were heavily buffeted. The liner “Ronchi,” on arrival at Plymouth, reported the seas in the 'English Channel were the worst encountered for years. SHTP FOUNDERS. The British steamer Frances Duncan foundered off Land’s End. Five survivors were picked up by a.nothei British steamer which went to her assistance. When the storm was at its height, wireless reports stated the French steamer Caibrouno and tlie British steamers Val Acia and Rowanbum were out of control, owing to damaged steering gear. The Danish steamer Helene reported its engines were completely disabled.

Appeals from, tbe Danish steamer Guecho brought two tugs from Swansea to her assistance. The Swedish motor vessel Ralaklava reported a hurricane had damaged her bridges and flooded her cabins amidships, causing delay. Lifeboats were called out during the day from several stations around the British coasts. Two houses in London and soveial in other towns-collapsed, and many cases ■of trees, hoardings and walls being blown down are reported. The roads in several parts were temporarily blocked by fallen trees, and the London-Bournemouth rai ‘- way traffic was delayed three hours owing to a tree falling across the rails. The flooding of a suburban line near New Bechenham, in Kent, necessitated the cutting off of the current for electrical trains. A large number of telephone wires •were brought dmYn by the storm. The Nowhaven-Dieppe steamer services were cancelled, and the Folke-stone-Boulogne services were diverted via Dover. . Anxiety regarding the floods m the lower reaches of the Thames was expressed in a question in the House ol Commons. The Health Minister, Mr Greenwood,’ replied that the matter was under consideration, but it was difficult to promise that measures could he taken to prevent floods.

VESSEL SWAMPED. IN VIEW OF CROWD ASHORE. LONDON, Dec. 6. At the height of the gale, the collier Francis Duncan, on her way from Cardiff to Rouen, when two miles on shore, was caught in a veritable wall of water near Penzance, and she was overheeled like a child’s toy. The water closed above her. When she reappeared, she was lying on her side. She then sank in ifull view <ff the shore and of the barque Alice Marie, which was nearby. Sixteen out of the twenty-one aboard were drowned. Most of them were trapped below, but, by a miracle, five were saved, thanks to the pluck, quick'ness, and reniarkabW; seamanship of the Alice Marie.

It was a vivid drama to those ashore, watching first the Francis Duncan’s tight against the gale, then the disaster, and finally the astonishing rescue.