WIDESPREAD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 104, 4 May 1936, Page 9

WIDESPREAD.

STORM DAMAGE.

CITY AND PROVINCE

MOSTLY OF MINOR NATURE.

HURRICANE SQUALLS,

From the suburbs and province to-day came reports of widespread minor damage caused by the fierce storm—the third this year—which raged in Auckland on Friday night and for the greater part of Saturday. Some of the westerly squalls on Saturday were of hurricane force, and the weather generally was cold, wet and miserable. A change in the wind yesterday brought an improvement and to-day was mostly fine, though the sky remained overcast. * Telephonic and telegraphic communications, which were interrupted during the height of the storm, are being rapidly repaired, though the breakages of wires were numerous. Supplies of electricity were also interrupted.

The speed trials of the New Zealand Motor Racing Drivers' Association at Muriwai yesterday had eventually to be abandoned because of the huge waves breaking over the beach. A tree was struck and splintered by lightning at Tuakau, while at Rotorua the weather was bitterly cold. There was a sprinkling of snow in the town itself, with heavier falls in the surrounding country. In that district also there were breakages in telegraphic and telephonic services.

Seas yvere naturally higher on the Manukau than 011 the Waitemata, and there dinghies and small craft were swamped. 011 the Waitemata a small launch was driven ashore at Stanley Point, while Mr. M. Bailey's yacht Clio capsized in Little Shoal Bay. Train Services Normal. Early 011 Saturday. morning trains ■were delayed in the area between Pukekohe and the King Country because of damage to the electrical signalling system. Owing to a defect near Kimihia the first express from Wellington was half an hour late.. This morning services were again normal. The breaking of a 0000-volt power line outside the Newmarket sub-station caused considerable power interruption in the. suburbs on Saturday evening. Ellerslie, Epsom and part of Mount Eden were without electricity for an hour and a half, while part of Remuera, St- Helier's Bay and Kohimarama suffered in the same way for 35 minutes. A small fire followed the breaking of the line, gas from a main under the footpath catching alight. No damage was done. There were a number of other small fires in the city. Three houses and a motor vap caught fire following the breaking of power lines.

All through the afternoon the racing drivers at Muriwai yesterday had trouble. The wind would not allow the tide to go more than half-way out, so that the beach was by no means in a good condition. Great waves would break far up over what is normally firm sand, while conditions were so bad that the last race could not be started. Fo&r drivers were lined up at the mark when an extraordinarily large wave washed right over the cars. Two of the four cars were lifted across the beach, while all the drivers were wet to the skin hy the wave.

Coming on Saturday, the gale did not affect coastal shipping to any extent, as most of the vessels were in port for the week-end. The Northern Company's steamer Kawau was delayed at the Great Barrier from Thursday afternoon until yesterday morning, when the wind and sea went down. The steamers Omana and Onewa met with heavy weather on their passage to and from Waiheke, hut completed their trips only an -hour late.

Though still rough, the Manukau bar is workable to-day, and vessels which have been,held up since Thursday will sail with the outgoing tide this afternoon. Telephone Lines Broken. A report from Hamilton to-day states that throughout the week-end repair gangs have been working steadily in the Waikato district restoring the telephone service to abo\TT*2so country subscribers whose 'phones were rendered useless as the result of the storm. Untopped trees close to lines were responsible for' much dislocation. Almost all the faults had been rectified by this morning. A flash of lightning struck a large pine tree in Geraghty's Road, Tuakau, about 2.40 p.m. on Saturday. The tree was shattered, branches and splinters being scattered within a radius of a chain. In Mr. J. H. Geraghty's house, to the south of the tree, Mr. Geraghty's 11-year-old eon, who was looking from a window, was thrown across the room and rendered - unconscious for a few minutes. Mrs. Geraghty was thrown to the floor in another part of the house. Four windows were broken, and every electric light bulb smashed. North of the tree damage was done in the house of Mr. G. H. Knowles, windows being broken and the electrical system damaged.

Snow at Rotorua. During the height of Saturday's storm a sprinkling of snow, interspersed with sleet, whitened the upper slopes of Mount Tarawera. Traces of snow were still to he seen clinging to rock clefts on the mountain yesterday. Snow also fell at Tokaanu and on the Kaingaroa Plains, where it was hanked up along the roadside in places. At Mamaku there was a heavier fall, snow lying up to three inches in depth on the hills. A light sprinkling also fell on the lower levels around Rotorua, although it was not sufficient to do more than suggest that snow was in the air. The wind at times reached a very high velocity, whipping the lakes into surging white caps and driving sheets of spray across their surfaces. Minor damage was reported in some parts of the district, hut nothing of a serious nature. Trees blown down near the Terraces Hotel at Taupo broke telegraphic communication with. Napier, while another break occurred between Rotorua and Taupo. On Friday night a strong wind, accompanied by rain squalls, made conditions decidedly unpleasant in Whangarei. One house had three panes of glass blown in, and at the "Advocate" building on Saturday morning a glass skylight, about sft by 2ft was broken.