The Disaster at Mauritus.

Manawatu Herald, 16 June 1892, Page 2

The Disaster at Mauritus.

PORT LOUIS WRECKED BY A HUBBI- ' CANE. SHOCKING DESTRUCTION OF LIFE AND PKOPERTY. The following graphic description of this terrible disaster, which OC' curred on Friday, the 29th April, and was briefly cabled, is compiled by the Times, from the Commercial Gazette, a Port Louis paper, which had to suspend publication until the following Monday. For several days a terrible " ras de maree " which existed towards the north of the island showed that there was bad weather at sea, but no one thought of the possibility of a hurricane. On Friday morning the wiud began to blow with some violence, but as no warning had been received from the Observatory. it was thought to be only a strong' breeze. At 11 a.m. the following telegram received from the Observatory was posted at the railway station and at the post office : — "At 11 a.m. barometer at sea level 29.588. Wind-North east by east at rate of 58 miles per hour the squalls veering slowly to northward. The velocity will probably not exceed 56 miles an hour. Strong, gale. Will telegraph every hour. 0 However, the wires being, brokenno more telegrams were received. At 12.15 the railway manager announced by a bellman that the last train would leave town at 1.30 p.m. All the passengers hastened to the station, but the wind was so strong, and there was so much uncertainty about the state of the line, that they did not dare start the train. At this moment the sea overflowed the wharfs and all Labour-donnais place the waves breaking on the Place d'Armes. A dozen barges loaded with sugar and rice sunk in the harbour, and the ships dragged their anchors. All at once there was a complete lull, the rain ceased, the wind fell, the sun appeared. It was hoped the weather was getting fine again. Business recommenced in town ; a great many of those who had gone to the station returned to their offices. The lull lasted about an hour and a half,. Suddenly the wind began to blow again with increased violence from the opposite direction ; from north-east it had changed to south-west. A locomotive was despatched to examine the lines. There was no doubt that we were in presence of a hurricane without example. Solid buildings were blown down ; planks, shingles, tin roofs flew about in all directions. The hurricane lasted about one hour and a half, and in that short space half the town was destroyed, the plantations were uprooted, and most of the sugar mills blown down, while most of the ships in the harbour were on shore. While the island was thus being devastated, a great number of the inhabitants were detained in the greatest anxiety at the central railway station, their families being alone without assistance in the country, It wasonly at about 7 p.m. that people began to be aware of the extent of the disaster. A few went out in quest of news ; they came back to the station and announced that the convent and the Orphanage de Notre Dame de Bon Secours had l<een blown down, making many victims. The sky now became red ; fire had broken out amongst the ruins in several places at the same time. Some attempt was made to organise assistance, but a great part of the suburbs was on fire. Daylight at length came to enlighten an unexampled scene of ruin and desolation . It was only then that the extent of the disaster becamo apparent. From one end of the island to the other all 'is death, ruin and desolation. At G o'clock on Saturday morning a locomotive was sent to dear the line; it succeeded in bringing in from Coromandel the train of the day before which was in collision between Coromandel and Petite Riviere with a goods waggon escaped from Petite Riviere during the hurricane. At 8.20 a train was able to start, and arrived without obstruction at Rose Hill, but here the line was blocked by a waggon upside, down. .* 11 the passengers bravely ; started on foot for Quatre Bornes, Phoenix, Vacoas and Curepipe. Everywhere along the road it is thie "same thing — roofs broken in, houses blown down, verandahs carried away, dead bodies by heaps. At Trianon about 60 bodies were dug out of the ruins of the sugar house. Whole families had disappeared. At Highlands the dead are counted by hundreds. At Bassiu it is the same thing. Curepipe is perhap3 thsplace that suffered least. There are very few houses blown down and

only one or two lives lost. Ihe j sugar house at Midlands is blown down, all the huts have been carried away, and all those who were in them are without shelter. At Grand Port the estata Rose Beile is destroyed. Bt Hubert; Le Yal, Biche en Eau, Beau Vallon Dauban, and Eochecouste, Fernay, Union Vale are frightful ruins. Savannah, Terracine, L'Union, Bel Mr, Combo, Fontenello have suffered enormously. At Britannia much damage has teen done. It is the same thing with the principal estates at Flacq, Bel Etang, Sans Souci, and Beauchamp, which are in ruins. The news received from Pamplemousses is very bad. The new sugar house at Mont Eoeher and most of the houses in the district are blown down* In a wo,d all the island has been cruelly struck, and is in a complete state of devastation. If the Home Government does not come to our aid it is all up with us. The officer administering the Government reported that he had received this statement from the chief medical officer with regard to the victims of the .cyclons :— " The number of patients attended is 1260, 944 of whom have been wounded in town and 316 in the districts. The number of deaths registered at the Civil Status office amounts to 1090, out of which 598 are tor the town and the remainder for the districts.