SYDNEY GALE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 537, 22 May 1933, Page 5

SYDNEY GALE

FIREBALL STRIKES HQUSE AND MANY SHOPS FLOODED Sydney, May 20. Last night's gale reached a velocity of 57 miles an hour. It is impossible to estimate the damage. George Street, in the city, suffered heavily. Shop floors were under water, and sand and sawdust barricades were erected against the flood waters, wrhile firemen were busy salvaging stock. A fireball struck a house at Bondi and unroofed it. The cyclone was particularly severe on shipping. Vessels which put to sea were forced to turn back. The Manly ferries were forced to cease running. Stand-off signals have been'posted at Woollongong and Kiama, where high seas made the entrance of ships uncertain. A stormwater channel at Kensingf^on, a suburb, burst, and houses and shops in the business centre were flooded. Selfridge's premises in Pitt Street had its stock damaged to the extent of £3000. Many other shops had to remove- sodden articles from the shelves. Thousands of late shoppers Avere drenched. A warning of local floods has been issued in the northern and southern coastal towns. The conditions are expected to improve over the week-end.