CYCLONE CAUSES HAVOO

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6544, 28 February 1928, Page 2

CYCLONE CAUSES HAVOO

KALGOORLIE VISITATION LOSS PLACED AT £150,000. SYDNEY, Feb. 17 Further details of the cyclone which struck the Western Australian goldfields on February ,10 fhow that hundreds have been refidered homeless at Kalgoorlio, Coolgardie and Boulder, through their '; homes being lifted into the air and smashed it pieces. At Kalgoorlio, Mr. P. Collier, Premier had a narrow escape when the station building was struck by the cyclone. are that the damage will amount to £150,000 but this figure may bo exceeded. Churches and hotels suffered severely. Forty children in the South Kalgoorlie Convent had a narrow escape when the roof of their school was carried away and flying debris from other buildings poured in. Teachers rushed the children from danger before any were injured/ Mrs. Ernest Guy, of Boulder,: was taking ter two children and two others who live next door to spend the afternoon at Kalgoorlie. , When the dust-storm darkened everything, she hurried the two neighbours ’ children into a shop for safety, and a minute later her young daughter was struck by a flying piece of 'galvanised iron, which practically severed her leg. The girt died later. A man was having a bath in, the Mount Lyell Hotel, when the bathroom was blown away, He- was left unhurt, although ho lost most of hie clothes. Mrs, Eowe, aged 72, was buried under the' ruins of her house in South Kalgoorlie, and she also escaped with slight injury. Mfti. Coles, an-old pensioner, living nearby had the same experience, and is in a serious condition in hospital. Many motor-cars were blown hundreds of yards along the streets) while others were lifted into the air by lho storm, and then .dropped on ■ their hoods or on their sides, ’ |i Practically every house in Kalgoorlio suffered damage; The : minors’ homes along the Golden Mile received the full brunt of the tornado, .dozens of them being smashed to’ pieces. The roof of the grandstand on the Kalgoorlio racecourse was bldwp away, while the buildings ■ at‘ : the trotting ground, including the .tptilisator offices, , were induced to a heap of splintered timber. As the electric cables have been blown down, the power has been cut off from most of the, mines, where wort has been suspended for at least a week. ■' Efforts are being made to provide temporary shelter-for the homeless, many df the residents not affected placing their houses, at their disposal and also supplying them with food.