CYCLONE HAVOC

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5330, 17 February 1947, Page 5

CYCLONE HAVOC

i • /' ■ ( Press Assn.-

Wellington Meets Full Fury Of Gale & * TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION SERIOUSLY MSRUPTED

'i —By T elegravh—\J opyright .)

WELLINGTON, Last Night. In full blast throughout Wellington, Manawatu, and the Wairarapa, and in parts of Hawke's Bay and Marlborough for about 12 biting hours yesterday morning, a southerly cyclone caused damage which it has as yet been impossible to estimate owing to the isolation from one another of practically all centres in the area. No storm of like dimensions had struck Wellington since February, 1935, bn which morning the Rangatira went ashore at Sinclair Head. At Gliakea yesterday morning, a gust of wind from the south-west was recorded at 93 miles an hour and during„ the night, particularly after 2 o'clock, the wind gauges at Kelburn registered many at over 70 miles an hour.

The Rongotai and Paraparaumu aerodromes were closed yesterday as both were unserviceable. The Rongo- { tai aerodrome was practically ■covered by water. The air services left Gisborne and Auckland and landed at Palmerston Ncrth. There were no Nelson or Blenheim services. Overseas air traffic Avas no-t affeeted. The ferry steamer Hinemoa, which was not able to reach Lyttelton from Wellington till late on Saturday afternoon, made her usual northward trip to-night, arriving in Wellington on time. The Rangatira's departure from Wellington to Lyttelton was postponed from Saturday night Tjntil tg-night. Mountainous Seas Bulfetfed by a fierce southerly storm and mountainous seas, the t Hinemoa made the worst crossing on the Lyttelton run for 20 years. The ship sailed at seven knots and behaved well, but sbipped some water. The passengers, on the'advice of the stewards, mainly kept to their berths but a fe^v preferred the cold enclosed decks, in some cases through hardiness and in others to escape their less seaworthy cabinmates. The stewards and stewardesses did e. great job in attending to the pas--sengers and performed miracles in delivering .full cups of tea. Mothers with babies received special attentic-n I under most trying conditions. Brealcfas't was taken to the ac.companimcnt of crashes of crockery as waves 40 or 50 feet high smacked the ship. which rode alternately on the crests and in the troughs of the huge -seas. Special trains ivaited at Lyttelton, to cater for the passengers. Addington racegoers disconsolately listcned to results from the course over ^lie 1 ship's radio. Wanganella Salvage Work The Wanganella's position was critical at the height of the storm yesterday. Both her bow-lines parted, and dockers and crew fought doggedly to prevent the ship from breaking loose. The movement of the liner from Aotea Quay on to the floating dock may not now be posoible before Tuesday. All possible work j under the icy conditions was being j continued, and men wearing sou'- j westers and oilskins were engaged in j something approaching a blizzard, on the removal of further debris from No. 3 hold. The Wanganella caught the full effects of the southerly blast, but the salvage operators were consoled by the fact that the gale did not reach Wellington while the liner lay ofi Barrett's Reef, for it would have spelt her doom. During the 24-hour period ended 9 a.m. to-day, 5.05 inches of rain were recorded in the Wellington area. The meteorolo'gical station at Kelburn states that the wind reached 78 m.p.h. — the strongest on record. Southern Suburbs Lashed Wellington houses rocked and shook at the height of the gale, particularly in th'e southern .suburbs., Petone stood the full blast of the southerly for the Hutt Valley, but property damage Avas widespread throughoiut. Windows were shattered, some tall chimneys fell, premises were unroofed and fences blown down. On the Hutt railvvay line between Ngahauranga and Petone huge comhers smashed agains.t the seawall and showered the Hutt Road itself with salt water. The railway line was washed out. All along the tram routes to the city there was evidence of the ferocity of the storm. Wooden fences were torn from their moorings, and in ' some instances lay scattered across roadways like pieces of matchwood. Bays on the Cook Strait side of the city received the worst buffeting. At19 a.m. yesterday the sea at Island Bay was an agve-inspiring spectacle, with waves 20 feet in height crashing right iup to the bathing sheds. Large fishing boats tossed about like so many corks, and fishermen Avere husily engaged in pulling their ding'hies and smaller craft into the safety of the roa'dway. 1 ^ Visibility Dut to.. sea was limited to a few hundred yards; beyond this nothing but a great white wall of foam eould be seen. Hutt Valley Power Cut Off The Exhibition buildings at Rongotai • appeared to be in the process -of disintegration. Most of the roof of the main building,- used now as a wool

store, was blown away,' and whole sections of wall collapsed. The damage to power and telephone lines in the Hutt Valley is reported to be so -extensive that it will be well into the week before they are all restored. ' Power has been cut in many areas, and residents have been eating cold meals. At Lower Hutt a new shelter for bus passengers, 60 feet long, was turned •upside down, vvrecking the rear part of a house nearby. The Epuni railway station is reduced to flattened wreckage. At Waddington an exciting night was reported by the local butcher, Mr. Lovett. Roused in the early hours of the morning by the glare of the timber yards which burst into fiames in the night, he was im time to see the Waddington-Naenae Community Uall starting to disintegrate in the gale. Hall Crashes Into House Summoning a few helpers from their beds, Mr.' Lovett was able, with their aid, -to rescue the piano from the hall before the roof had entirely vanished, and it was carried to his house. He and his mates were 'taking- other property from the hall when the whole building collapsed. One man had his hand severely cut by flying tinfber. The full weight of a wall of the hall briilding was flung on to the rear of the next-door house, smashing in the back bedroom in which a man was asleep. He escaped injury, and after recovering- from the shock was able to go to work in the morning at his usual time. Part of the roof of the house was also damaged. ■ The house two 'doors from the hall was also smashed about by flying timber. The gale tore the tiles from the roofs of many houses in the area, and the damage is so general that a working bee was organised in Waddington to help residents in distress; With all the power. off in the neighbourhood, and in most parts of the Hutt Valley, the prepafation of even a cup of tea was a diffculty, so that the possession of a hottle of kerosene and a cooking stove had a value beyond riches. At one stage the whole of the Hutt Valley power supply was cut off, except for one feeder which suppli#d the Hutt Hospital. It alone held firm. Line and Road Damage The general damage. and in particufar that on the Petone foreshore, is | described as the worst that the Hutt i Valley Power Board has as yet had to | deal with, and permanent repairs may take many- weeks.

Along the Hutt Road an occasional car travelled with its headlights on through the fog of spray east up by waves beating on the breastwork, which put long stretches of the railway line under water. Really the only suitabie vehicle in which to visit the Petone foreshore was an aquatic tank insulated against broken power lines. The prineipal blockages reported by the Automobile Association were the Taita Gorge Road, blocked hy flood waters, and 'the main road between Wanganui and Wellington, four and ahalf miles north of Bulls, at which point the traffic was diverted through Marton and Turakina. Wanganui' s tramway system, which operates on direct current and not the alternating current of the national network, was brought to a standstill when the gale blew down three poles carrying the main feeder line near the power station. Restoration work cannot be started until the gale abates considerably. It is estimated that at least a day will be needed to restore the lines. The fire brigade's street box alarms were totally unreliable, wires in some ins^nces being tanglea round telephone and power lines, thus being electrified. Communications Broken In Auckland Province AUCKLAND, last night. Damage to power apd telephone lines and to fruit crops in various parts of the province was caused by vioRnt southerly winds in most parts of the North Island from Auckland southwards on Friday night and yesI terday. J There was a marked drop in tem- | peratures throughout the "province, I the- thermometer being as low as 36 J degrees in Opotiki yesterday. I Direct telephone communication be-. tween Auckland and the central and southern portions 0f the North Island was cut in the early hours of yesterday morning, and although the lines from Hamilton to New Plymouth had been restored by noon, there was longer delay in restoring the lines beJ tween Cambridge and Rotorua, and in

Ihe vicinity of Taupo. The chief damage to the lines in these areas was caused through trees being blown down two miles south of 'Cambridge, and five miles south of Taupo. Telegraphic traffic between Auckland the south was handled by the emergency radio circuit. Telephone communications between Auckland and Wellington were restored to-day, but the service was subject to delays. The weather was especially severe in the Taupo distriet. Snow fell on surroupding ranges yesterday morning, and big gum trees were blown down at Tokaanu. Snow on the Desert Road dlelayed motorists, but all railway timetables were maintained. w With the exception of the flight to Kaitaia, and that to New Plymouth, . and Palmerston North, all inland air services operating through Auckland, were cancelled yesterday. Severe Crop Losses In Fruit Orchards ■ HASTINGS, Last Night: Severe damage suffrired .l>y orchards in the week-end gale wa.? revealed in a survey made td^-day of the fruit-growing"*kareas. The maip crop remaining to be harvested' i§ apples, although there are still some , late peaches and pears. Mature and'' immature fruit carpets the groiirid - . bgneath the trees in quantities vary.r-; ing from orehard to orchard: : >. • Much of the fruit remaining on the , trees is suffering from branch rub and other damage sustained in • thebuffeting. Young trees especially are uprooted or partially uprooted. With the v wind continuing .until. late this afternoon, tbough ' Avithj diminishing violoice, an accurate estimate of the damage is difficult.' It seems, however, that the damag$ varied according to the adeqpacy of • . shelter belts. Losses in exposed orchards would be about 200 cais.es to the acre and in more sheltefed * orchards about 50 to the acre." %*1 *. , -U'