Storm Sweeps Sydney

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 276, 11 February 1928, Page 9

Storm Sweeps Sydney

TWO MEN AND WOMAN DROWNED Chimneys and Walls Demolishsd By Cable. — Pres* Association. — Copyright. Received 12.30 p.m. SYDNEY, To-day. THREE people were drowned, chimneys and walls were blown down, buildings unroofed, and many windows broken by hailstones over an inch thick, as the result of the storm which swept Sydney yesterday.

rPHE terrific heat of the past week -A- culminated in a heavy thunderstorm accompanied by torrential rain and a cyclonic wind. At the height of the storm a ship’s boat,. which was conveying five men and a woman from the steamer Baldina, was struck by a squall in the harbour and capsized and sank. The occupants of a launch in the vicinity who witnessed the accident picked up three men. There was no trace of the other two men or of the woman, and they are believed to have been drowned. The names of the missing are J. O’Halloran, B. Lawrence and Mrs. Haley. The storm is described as one of the severest experienced in Sydney. The wind reached a velocity of 54 miles an hour. Chimneys and walls were blown down, and buildings unroofed.

At Drummoyne an electric cable was blown down and the police had to form a cordon round it to protect pedestrians till repairs had been effected. At Auburn a tree was struck by lightning and 18 workmen nearby were thrown to the ground dazed. The storm lasted only a little over an hour. Fifty- %e points of rain were recorded at the weather bureau, but many suburbs reported over an inch. On the northern foreshores of the harbour jagged hail fell, some stones being more than an inch thick. At Neutral Bay many windows were broken. Similar storms are reported from country districts, where many washaways on railways have occurred. —A. and N.Z.