TARANAKI CYCLONE

Hokitika Guardian, 19 July 1930, Page 2

TARANAKI CYCLONE

MAN'S WONDERFUL ESCAPE.

(By Telegraph—Press Association).

NEW PLYMOUTH, July 18

A cyclone plucked the roof from a barn, and destroyed outbuildings, scattering debris, iron and scantling along a two-miles track, when it swept up the Te Henui Valley into Mr J. Hales’ farm at Avenue Road, New Plymouth, this afternoon. Jack Hales junior who was in the shed when the cyclone descended, had a miraculous escape. A joist, to which he clung, was torn ■from his hands while he\ was whirled among amid a hail of falling iron and timber. A jpiece of iron was carried about twenty chains, and fell on a high tension wire connecting with the power station with the Nsw Plymouth sub-station, and opened the Vcircuit breakers.- They extinguished all the lights in New Plymouth for about five minutes.

“Earlier in the afternoon, we had been cementing the floor of the cowshed,” said Mr Hale, junior, “but we had left that. Three of us were working in the shearing shed. This was a large building connected with the cowsheds by a smaller roofed shelter. 1 left the other two to get my coat from the shed. I had just reached the far end of the shed when 1 heard a loud roar, which grew until, with a sound like stone hitting the shed, the cyclone arrived. I knew ; mist be a cyclone, so I caught lieV of the post. The end of the shed began to cave in, and the roof was being ripped off when the post began lo leave me, but I thought, it s go. The scantling was twistled out of my grip, and I made a dash for the shearing shed. When I was nearly there I was twisted round and nearly dragged off my beet. Sparks flew from the corner of the shearing shed, and it looked as if it was struck by lightning. I made another dash for a wooden gate lending into the shed, but I was blinded by a thick cloud of dust, which blew through the open doorway of the shearing shed.” The damage has been estimated “at £SOO. No one was injured.

1 ■ 15

a I