HEAVY HAIL

Hokitika Guardian, 1 December 1931, Page 5

HEAVY HAIL

AT CHRISTCHURCH.

SERIOUS DAMAGE DONE

(By Telegraph—Per Press Association)

CHRISTCHURCH, November 30

Christchurch was swept by a severe hailstorm this afternoon. The shower lasted only 'twenty minutes, but it was of exceptional severity. The bulk -of the hailstones were not of phenomenal size, being about half and inch in diameter, but falling sparsely th*re were also much larger hailstones, larger than a well-grown matured cheny.

Glass verandahs and panes in greenhouses struck by these larger pieces ol’ ice were broken. The gardens in the near neighbourhood of the city were damaged, but, fortunately, the districts in the suburbs where the market gardens and commercial orchards are situated were outside the narrow limits of the storm. . .

11l Cathedral Square and along the banks of the Avon, the hah' lay as white as if there had been a fall of snow, and under the trees leaves lay thickly strewn, they having been shorn off by the heavy hail.

The areas which bore the worst of the storm were the centre of the city, iSt. Albans, Sjpre.ydOn, Liiiwood, LdWer itiiccafton, and parts of Papaiiui, The worst damage Was done in the hail ill the guttered roofs of the buildings of the older type. Water poured through the roof of the Public Library, and hundreds of books were damaged, some being completely soaked and utterly destroyed. The Library was closed while the staff worked with brooms,- buckets, and mops to clear away the water, which, at times, • rose over their ankles.

Water came into the mail room of the Post Office, but all the mail was quickly moved to safety. Minor troubles from flooding occurred at many shops, but, with a few exceptions, little or no damage was done. •

Damage estimated at from £SOO to £6OO to stocks of new . wallpaper occurred in the premises of Smith and Smith, Tuam Street. Flooding in the Rowron Building, in A'ianchester Street, occupied chiefly as office suites, was serious. Water cascaded down the stairs, and all the floors were awash with water trickling down the walls. .. . Walter came through the roof of the Cathedral reaching part of the big organ. Organ builders immediately set to work dismantling the instrument for examination. DROUGHT UNBROKEN. . '" OH&ISTCffURCfe, November 30. Comparatively little rain, lias fallen to break the worst .early summer drought known in parts of Canterbury for thirty years.