GALE DAMAGE

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20735, 20 February 1939, Page 8

GALE DAMAGE

CAMP SCHOOL BURNED DESTRUCTION OF HUTS MARLBOROUGH SWEPT (By Telegraph.—Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH, Sunday A great deal of minor damage was done at Public Works Department camps on the South Island main trunk line between Kaikoura and Blenheim and at one or two points further south by a fierce north-westerly gale which, starting late on Saturday evening, blew at great force for three hours. The most serious result was the burning of the big camp school at Aniseed, the headquarters camp on the northern sector of the line. A chain of isolated bush fires started and raged along a front of between two and three miles, one reaching the outskirts of the camp and burning the school to the ground before it could be saved. At a camp further north. a gale of almost cyclonic force blew down a row of six substantial huts of wood and canvas and tore off the roof of the cookhouse and carried it a distance of nearly half a mile. The cookhouse at Aniseed was partly destroyed by wind and the roof was also torn off the school.

At the Oaro headquarters camp on the southern sector no one was injured. but at least 30 huts were either blown completely down or damaged. There were minor interruptions to telegraph and telephone services.

VELOCITY OF 70 MILES

WELLINGTON LASHED COMMUNICATIONS INTERRUPTED (Bv nr>n —p vcco^'afion» WELLINGTON, Monday A fierce northerly gale with frequent gusts of more than 70 miles an hour swept Wellington on Saturday, causing minor damage and interruptiug the Cook Strait Airways service to Blenheim. At Miramar, part of the roof of a house was blown off and damage was done to the framework of a factory being erected. Several windows in the new school at Miramar North were blown in. The gale blew throughout the day and increased in velocity in the evening. The maximum velocity was 77 miles an hour, recorded at Kelburn at midnight. Thereafter the wind gradually decreased and at 7.30 o’clock yesterday morning changed to a moderate breeze from the south.

The Director of the Meteorological Office, Dr. E. Kidson, said such a gale was exceptional for this time of the year. It had been caused by a deep westerly depression passing in the south.

Telephone and telegraph communication between Christchurch and Wellington was interrupted on Saturday night by the gale, and until 6 p.m. yesterday communication had to be maintained by the circuits on the West Coat. Lines were out of order between Kaikoura and Cheviot, Kaikoura and and Waiau and Kaikoura and Clarence Bridge. Last night, though repairs had been made, the lines were still shaky. The services between Christchurch and Dunedin were also affected by a strong wind, especially between Palmerston and Dunedin.

WEST COAST SUFFERS

GREYMOUTH POWER FAILURE (By Telegraph—Press Association) GREYMOUTH, Sunday A north-westerly gale, which reached a high velocity and at times was accompanied by heavy rain, swept the West Coast yesterday afternoon. The weather improved somewhat this morning. Trees blown across the Grey Electric Power Board's supply line at Mount Buckley, near Dobson, caused a break and plunged Greymouth and the surrounding district into darkness at about 7.30 p.m. The power line could not be repaired until this morning, so the Government’s new Diesel plant at Dobson was brought into operation, and provided lighting again about 8.30 p.m. Blackball was without lighting throughout last night as a result of trees falling across the power lines near Ngahere. Repairs were made this morning.

Two fairly extensive slips have blocked the Otira Gorge Road.