THE LATE STORM. [TO THE EDITOR.]

Te Aroha News, Volume VIII, Issue 394, 17 August 1889, Page 2

THE LATE STORM. [TO THE EDITOR.]

Sir, —As no doubt you will publish a report regarding the late severe weather, perhaps it will not b8 out of place for me to inform you how the storm affected me and my family. At 4 o'clock on Sunday morning I heard one of the sheets of iron on the roof blow off. I immediately awoke my family (twelre of us were sleeping in the house at the time). We have another small house, four chains distant from the one we lired in, and to this we car rid all the younger members of the family. The danger of so doing was very great, as the house we went to is in a direct line from the other one, and timber and sheets of iron were flying around us in all directions. Such was the force of the wind that it took one ceiling 16ft x 16ft. joists, lining ard all, a distance of four chains ; whilst a plank was driven with such force that it went right through a two feet sod bank, some of the pieces of timber being driven fully a foot into the hard fern ground, so yon can understand what danger we were in ; but I am glad to be able to state that not one of us received any injury ; we shall, however, suffer very severely 6nancially, as we could take nothing out of the house at the time, except a few blankets to wrap the childup in, as we did not know the moment the house would collapse ; in fact as it was, we had only just got clear of it when the petition fell in, and, of course, smashed up everything it came it came in contact with, I estimate £50 would not recoup our loss, and some things are lost that never can be replaced, such as heir-looms, etc, I must not forget to mention that Mr

Win. OBrien, builder, a neighbour of, mine, very kindly came over at daylight on Sunday morning, and braced the parts of the building that were left standing, he beins* under great risk at doing so. — I am, etc., Geo. Loveqrovb. Te Aroha West, August 18th, 1889.