STORMY WEATHER.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 January 1922, Page 4

STORMY WEATHER.

DAMAGE BY WEEK-END GALE. SHIPPING DISORGANISED. A high wind which sprang up in Now Plymouth on Saturday afternoon developed into a south-easterly gale early in the night and raged with considerable force. It continued unabated throughout yesterday/ causing damage in several cases. The eledtric light department had to devote considerable attention to rne Fitzroy circuit, where “faults” occurred through the gale, and a line near Belt Road was blown down. The force of the wind was illustrated, by the breaking of a big window at Messrs. Stainton and Co.’s garage in Devon Street, the glass being blown inwards by the gusts. Telegraphic communications north and south of New Plymouth were maintained yesterday, but it is probable that a number of “faults” may be reported from outlying districts as the result of the continued high winds. Fences were blown down in. various parts of the borough, and other minor disturbances were caused by the gale. In gardens the damage was particularly extensive, and coming at a time when many plants are carrying bunches of summer blooms, the loss is a bad one. The gale caused considerable inconvenience to shipping at New Plymouth, although the Ngakuta, which arrived before the storm reached its height, lay snugly at the wharf. The C. and D. liner Port Albany and the Union Company’s cargo steamer Kahika, which arrived off the port yesterday morning, were signalled not to enter the harbor, and stood to sea during the day and last night to await a moderation of the weather. Two small open boats which left the harbor on a fishing crurse on Saturday got into difficulties owing to the choppy sea, and the Harbor Board’s launch was dispatched to their assistance. One boat was met on the way into the harbor. The second was found sheltering in the lea of Moturoa Island, and the occupants were taken in by the launch, their boat being towed in.