GALE HAVOC

Hokitika Guardian, 25 November 1931, Page 8

GALE HAVOC

NEW SOUTH WALES TOWN RAZED.

SUDDEN STORM BREAKS

SYDNEY, November 1?

The storm which caused such tremendous devastation in many pails of New South Wales last Sunday whs one of those visitations experienced i ,vo or three times a year—brief, hul extremely severe. It came up with a suddenness which caught most pop'quiie unawares, including thousand:; v. ho, during a delightful summery morning, had enjoyed the suiislrno of the City beaches. Motoring parties, too,' were caught, at all the chief resorts, and they had great difficulty ill reaching home in safety. Pleasure craft on the harbour were upset, and there wer many narrow escapes from drowning. The wind reached the force of a tornado in places, but whs by no means general. 'Some of Sydney’s suburbs escaped while in others tools were (torn from houses and siiops. Great hailstones fell in some parts, blocking the roadways, though a quarter of a mile away there was no s.gn of hail. During the whole of Sunday afternoon, and well into it-he night, there were dazzling Hashes of lighting, and a continuous roar of thunder. One thunderstorm followed another in quick succession. Several houses were struck by fireballs, ai d greatly damaged, while the occupants narrowly escaped death. Lightning struck the chimney of one house ill the city, and the bricks crashed through the roof and fell into a bedroom where ,two children were hiding beneath the bed clothes. SEVERE IN THE COUNTRY. The storm was even more severe in the country districts than in the city, and left a trail of death and desolation. At Bathurst, about 150 nrihs from the city, the storm was ot un usual magnitude. A man who had taken under a tree was killed instantly by a Hash of lightning, and the dog he was holding, by a chain lived. A shepherd, while musttring sheep, was thrown from his horse and killed; His body was found some time later completely covered with huge hailstones. Another man took refuge in a shed. A tremendous Hash frightened him, and he dropped dead. In the Cowru district an unknown sundowner went to sleep alongside a. creek. YVh.le he was sleeping the storm broke. The creek rose with almost unbelievable rapidity, ■ arid carried him away. His body has not yet been recoveied.

The little town of Grabben Cullen, in the Goulburn district, was practically demolished by the tornado. Not a home was left with a roof. A baby in -a perambulator wia-s hiirk'd from a. house, and trees, ploughs, and waggons were carried away before the gale. The total damage, in. this town alone exceeded £IO,OOO. -■ The tornado first struck the home, of Air Wili am O'Brien, who was inside • with his wife and three-months’-old child. The wind s.iept away the house and felt them standing on- die floor. They all had remarkable escapes^from death. The baby was found uninjured benea h the overturned perambulator. Win t was left of the house caught lire, hat die flames were quickly, subdin d. Some a! the furniture was found the following morning three miles away.

GREAT DESTRUCTION. The tornado next struck the house of •Mr M. Loughnane, wrecking it completely, taking the roof, furniture, water tanks, and sheds, and carrying away large pine trees that were growing around the house. One tree was carried 50 yards, and there is no sign of it having touched the ground until, after travelling down the main road, it struck another home, wrecking the house, and destroying valuable m iking machinery, sheds, and farming implements. ,ln one instance a dog and a kennel were carried 100 yards, and several' sheep were killed by flying debris. A fireball, which, struck the home of Mr James McDonald, af Lane Cove, a Sydney suburb, caused an explosion that could be heard a mile away. Three great holes were blown in the roof, and the chimney was shattered. The house shook violently, and Mrs McDonald, who was inside with flier three children, ran, terrified, into the yard. Just before the house was struck there was a vivid red flash, almost blinding in its intensity. Another fireball struck a house Jit Hurstville, another suburb, and after it had passed, the clothes that had been hanging on a line on the verandah were found to be smouldering. Hundreds of windows were shattered by the huge hailstones that pelted down in many parts of the city.