ORDEAL IN STORM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 87, 14 April 1931, Page 10

ORDEAL IN STORM.

TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE. HASTINGS HOME WRECKED. ELECTEICAL DISPLAY. (By Telegraplh.—Ow Correspondent.) , HASTINGS, Monday. During the height of the storm which passed over-Hastings on Saturday afternoon, Mrs. Frank Daines and her little daughter, of Street, had a terrifying experience and a miraculous escape from injury. When lightning began to play, Mrs. Daines took the precaution of disconnecting the electrical services in her home, including an iron and the radio. She then turned off the power at the .meter switch Jboard.= No sooner had she done this than there was a terrific explosion. Mrs. Daines and her daughter crouched in a corner of the hall, and saw portions of the main switch-board, near the front door, sent hurtling across the hall. Then there was a blinding flash as the telephone switch blew out above them. In every room there was a loud report as electric light bulbs burst and scattered glass in all directions. "We were badly shaken by the earthquake, but this was infinitely .worse a'nd far more terrifying," said Mrs. Daines. An electrician and radio dealer who inspected the house said every fuse in the place was blown out. Even the hand switches were not immune. The house must have been "alive" with electricity.