DISASTROUS STORMS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1002, 19 June 1930, Page 1

DISASTROUS STORMS

IN BRITAIN AND AUSTRALIA FATAL LIGHTNING ENDS ASCOT RACES CROPS RUINED IN THE COMMONWEALTH WHILE Australian crops have been ruined and shipping' dislocated by floods, England has been visited by one of the worst thunderstorms in history, which has resulted in at least four deaths. Thunder and lightning broke over Ascot and the rain flooded the course, the lightning killing a bookmaker. The meeting was abandoned with the programme partly run.

United r..-t. —By Telegraph — Copyright. Eecd. 9.35 a.m. LONDON, Wed. The worst thunderstorm in the history o{ Ascot broke over the course during the running of the Royal Hunt. Cup. Torrential rain converted the course into a series of lakes. One bookmaker was struck by lightning and killed. The stand also was damaged. The meeting was abandoned after the running of the Royal Hunt Cup. The bookmaker was Mr. Walter Holbein, a well-known sportsman. Three others on different parts of the course were injured. Lightning caused damage throughout the country. The storm was most severe in the London area, where houses and institutions were flooded and where the electric train services were interrupted. Manchester was deluged, and two people were drowned. In the Newmills district two men were struck by lightning in the Street, and one was killed. RESCUED IN BOATS PEOPLE TRAPPED IN FLOOD AUSTRALIAN CROPS RUINED Kecd. 10.5 a.m. SYDNEY, Today. Although the position In the Northern flood areas is critical, and property damage is extensive, the tVeather Bureau forecasts the possibility of more floods. Heavy rain is still falling generally aad serious floods are inevitable in the Manning and Hunter areas. The damage in the Maitland and Wyong districts is enormous. In Maitland many people were rescued by flood-boats and the water was three feet over the floor in some homes. The cries of one distressed mother who was nursing a sick baby was heard by rescuers, who smashed the windows and lowered the pair by ropes into a boat.

Another case was that of a woman who was standing in water up to her armpits when rescued. The water is now entering the shops in the main street at Maitland. At Patterson a great disaster threatens. The river is up 36 feet and scores of people have left their homes. At Morpeth flood boats are doing gallant work. TELEGRAPH BREAKS Thousands of acres of crops in these districts have been ruined. The floods are the worst for 17 years. At Raymond Terrace, near Newcastle, 22 inches of rain have fallen in 48 hours. Cattle have been drowned in hundreds. More people have left their homes and some towns are isolated owing to the breakdown of telegraph lines. At latest advices the Hunter River has risen 40ft. at Singleton, where the racecourse is sft. under water. All the roads to Newcastle have been blocked and no trains are running north or south out of the coal centre. SHIP’S ROUGH PASSAGE The New Zealand collier Ivaponga, which reached Newcastle this afternoon, is the first vessel which has entered or left that port since late on Monday. She took seven days on the trip from Wellington, which usually occupies five and a-half days. The Ivaponga ran into a gale 550 miles off Newcastle, and the wind sometimes attained a velocity of 60 mile an hour. The ship was only lightly loaded, which saved her from serious damage. Waves frequently broke right over her. Captain Wliiteford and Chief Officer Everington stood continuous watches during the storm, and they only sighted one other vessel, the Alveric, which is now standing off Newcastle. The Kaponga’s officers agree that it was the worst gale in the last 10 years. However, when the ship berthed they were more interested in hearing the scores in the test cricket match in England than in telling of their own experiences.