STORMY WEEK-END.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 August 1922, Page 4

STORMY WEEK-END.

LIGHTNING AND RAIN. 1 TRAMWAYS AFFECTED. DAMAGE AT OKATO. A heavy rain storm, accompanied by thunder and lightning’ was experienced in the New Plymouth district yesterday. Trouble with the electric service held up the tramways during the day, and the storm Water channels were rushing torrent#, in some places swamping the footpaths, but no serious damage in the town was known last night.

The trouble really began late on Friday night, when stormy winds, accompanied by rain sprang up, but Saturday was beautifully sunny, the evening being quite mild. About 10 p.m., however, the sky became overcast and the atmosphere close, rain commencing to fall about 11 o’clock. During the night several very heavy showers came down, and throughout yesterday this was the general rule, some of the showers being exceptionally severe. It was not until yesterday morning, however, that brilliant flashes of lightning, accompanied by loud peels of thunder came with the storm. Throughout the day there were flashes of varying intensity, the worst flash coming about 3 p.m. The centre of the disturbance was very close to the town, so close as to be rather phenomenal. When lightning is about the period, is one of anxiety for the officials of the electric light and power department, and while they have devices -for warding off ill effects to the systems, it is not always possible to come off scot free. The first trouble came about half-past nine in the morning and was soon corrected, but the flash in the afternoon caused a considerable amount of work.

The overhead wires of the tramway system conducted very high frequency charges, due to the effects of the lightning in the feeder boxes, the charges puncturing the insulation and so short circuiting the whole of the system. The exact positions of the trouble took some time to locate, but Mr. R. H. Bartley (the borough electrical engineer) and his staff soon located one fault at the station ill Liardet Street. This repaired. Mr. Bartley got "the trams going again between Fitzroy and Liardet Street, and some time later located the other fault between Weymouth and Morley Streets. The trams on this section were not set going again until the evening. The electric light service was restored a few minutes after it had been damaged. The lightning also shut down the machines at the electric power-house, but the arresters were able to deal with the charges. In the borough, however, while the arrestors did all that could be expected of them, the charges were too frequent for them to carry. It is also believed that the lightning broke an insulator on the transmission line from the power-house. One of the high tension boards at Liardet Street caught fire, but as far as can be seen no damage was done. So >far no other damage has been reported in the borough. While the wind experienced in New Plymouth on Friday night was rather strong, no damage was done, but at I Okato, at 11.45 p.m., a cyclone struck ithe property of Mr. G. Danton, Perth 1 Road. Hitting the corner of a pine | plantation, about nine trees, each at least four feet In diameter, were snapped off like carrots. The storm then tore through the plantation, stripping trees as it proceeded. A shed about a couple of chains from the house was demolished, the timbers being carried against the house, where an iron chimney in a lean-to and a portion of the verandah were torn down, while two four hundred gallon tanks, both full of water, were crumpled like paper. Mr. Danton estimates the damage at about £l5O.