A DESTRUCTIVE STORM.

Kumara Times, Issue 408, 16 January 1878, Page 2

A DESTRUCTIVE STORM.

The following account of the tddsfc terrific and. disastrous thunderstorm ever known in New South Wales, which recently passed over GreenfelL, is taken from the local paper ; The day had been very;'sultry,* ani soon after noon electric cloiids began to gather in the north-west. till nearly five o'clock in the afternoon, when the tempest came almost without warning. The lightning was. incessaut and very vivid, flash succeeded' flash/and roll after roll of thunder, .With blinding hailstones, some of which were as large as walnuts. The noise, especially upon the iron rcofs, was past description.. A delude of rain succeeded the hail, and a j fearful hurricane of wind caused an amount damage of which at present it is impossible to form anything like a correct estimate. "The inhabitants of a town suddenly besieged by ah over--1 whelming army could nbt for the time I have felt more hopeless or more inj secure. Every house was shaken to flba | foundation, and in every direction all i kinds of building inater*ds were flyiftg about. Never befoie waß George street iin such a state of excitement. On either side of the road was a deep cur* rent of water rushing towards the creek, while the middle of the street was strewed with debiis. Sheets of zinc and iron, signboards, shingles, bark, rafters, and verhandahs were scattered about in all directions. On every side I were to be seen roofless houses totter* j ing walls, fallen chimneys, and window fronts blown in. On the outskirts of the town the destruction wasequally great. Tnrn which way you might, roofless houses were everywhere to seen. As darkness approached the misery caused by the storm was still more apparent. Some Were busy removing their furniture- from their insecure buildings; others' shoring up their walls, or coveiing the roofs of their dwellings with barjc, calico, or .whatever came to hand; some were searching for empty houses ia which to shelter ■ their families for the night. The damage done to the wheat and hay is very great. Many farmers who had stacked their hay and -were rejoicing at the success which had. attended their labors, *had, : without »their ricks,, some containing fifty tons, scattered in all directions. Many acres of wheat ready for the sickle are .now not worth cutting. Ori oar way home we overtook a Ijh'iuer who*had. been to Grenfell for sio\les, to out on the

p?or *emain<3i? see last page.]

morrow a paddock of wheat which he valued at £6O. Presently his son rode up and said the crop was not worth half-a-crown. That is only one instance of many we have heard. The maize and every kind of garden crop are more or less injured j the vines are completely stripped of their leaves, and most of the grapes are destroyed. The bush is scattered with fallen trees, and the destruction of fencing is very serious. Heavy sheets of iron and pieces of timber were carried hundreds of yards; others were bent and twisted into all manner of shapes. The Wesleyan chapel, the old building formerly used by the Congregationalists, and the Primitive Methodist chapel, are complete wrecks.