CYCLONIC GALE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 August 1938, Page 6

CYCLONIC GALE

WIDESPREAD DAMACE DONE IN SOUTH ISLAND POWER AND OTHER LINES BROKEN. SUSPENSION BRIDGE PARTLY WRECKED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. Considerable damage on the West Coast, in Canterbury and in most of the northern parts of the South Island resulted from a gale of cyclonic force which swept the Tasman Sea yesterday. This morning the wind had dropped and the weather was fine and sunny. The electric power supply was cut off in many districts as a result of broken power lines and telephone and telegraph services were seriously disturbed. A number of buildings were badly damaged, while hundreds of trees were uprooted. Communication with Wellington was broken soon after noon and was maintained in skeleton form by emergency radio equipment. Lines were broken north of Kaikoura and north of Greymouth. Temporary circuits were connected this morning and linesmen then proceeded with major repairs. Traffic this morning was restored to normal.

The main failure of power occurred in the Malvern Power Board’s district, where twelve poles were blown over and trees fell across lines in other places. Endeavours were being made today to restore power in many districts. The gale was accompanied by heavy rain which assisted in uprooting many trees that crashed on to power, telegraph and telephone lines. In Greymouth the worst damage was done to the Taylorville Suspension Bridge. A guy rope snapped, and so great was the force of the gale that the bridge was lifted several feet into the air, badly twisted, and tie rods broken. The power lines which are carried on the bridge were broken. Several buildings were stripped of their roofing. At Little River about one-third of the roof of the railway goods shed was torn off. It was carried about two chains, and before landing into a street, crashed through telephone wires. At Springfield, half of the roof of the railway goods shed was removed and a chimney of the stationmaster’s residence was blown over and crashed through the roof. One of many trees that were blown down fell through the front of a store, breaking a plateglass window. A break in the train-control telegraph line between Hinds and. Ealing caused the south express to be delayed in its arrival at Christchurch by 26 minutes. Communication was disrupt-, ed when several trees that were blown down in this area broke through the lines. In many districts the wind, which changed to the south-east later in the day, was accompanied by heavy rain, but no serious flooding of rivers was reported, although snow which had been frozen on the ground had thaWed in some parts of the country. This morning -the Waimakariri River had risen about four feet, but no danger of flooding was feared. Although the wind was severe in the city, little damage was reported and the power supply was not affected. BROKEN WIRES. INTERRUPTIONS IN NORTH ISLAND. WELLINGTON, This Day. The storm had a disastrous effect on telephonic and telegraphic communications in a number of parts of the country and early yesterday afternoon all circuits between Wellington and Christchurch were interrupted. Later in the day northern communications were badly affected too, with the result that commercial traffic was showing, at a late hour last night, a delay of six hours. By six a.m. today, largely owing to the use of radio, all the delay had been made up and all lines were normal again.