THE TORNADO.

Press, Volume III, Issue 326, 16 November 1863, Page 2

THE TORNADO.

[From the Southern Crots, Nov. sth.]

A most extraordinary whirlwind s-ncpt through Parnell yesterday, rooting up and destroying everything in its course; and it is indeed wonderful and providential that we have not to record fatal or other accident* of a more serious nature than have occurred. Up to three o'clock in the afternoon the weather was fine : when the wind suddenly changed to about north-wett, and brought l-oth wind and ruin.

A few minutes before 4 o'clock ;: very heavy shower fell, during which there were some flushes of lightning and a Might cbp of thunder. The heavy rain had driven everyone almost witlrn doors ; and to this providential vircu:r.st:mcc must be attributed the abseuoe of further personal casualties than we aliall presently record.

The approach of the whirlwind, which came

from the direction of j?1jo:«1 iiav. vs* so sudden

that it was hardly noticed until its -'.est roving force was felt in tie main thoroughfare of Pavnell. Like a huge irregular column of smoke varying in its density and diameter, it entered Parnell near the bottom of the mainroad leading to Auckland, nnd the first house it struck was that of Mr. Gilbert, the carpenter, a small cottage on the west side of the road, the chimney of which w«s instantly demolished, level with the roof, beside other damage being done. It then crossed to the other sido of the road, and struck Mr. George's butcher's shop, and the Rutland store, doing great damage to both buildings. Part of the verandah of tho latter was blown away, and subsequently found in the domain; and the front of the shop was knocked in, and the bottles, usually exhibited in a grocer's shop, and tho windowglass, fell in one complete state of smash into the road-way.

The course taken by the whirlwind seemed to be a 7.i"z.ig one; for at one time it covered the buildings abutting on the street, and at another it flew along at the rear of thorn, carrying destruction with it. In the neighborhood of it the air was literally tilled with broken pieces of timber, planks, aiid portions of roofe bodily raised up and carried a great distance. Mr. Johnson of the Windsor Castle, is one of the greatest sufferers. The whirlwind passed close at the rear of his hotel, unroofing a large building used for kitchens and bedroonjs } and destroying property both inside and outside of considerable value. Five barrels of beer were stove in, and of course destroyed, and the contents of the yard and the outbuildings all sutlercl more or less. Still keeping at the rear of the shops it swept over the back premises of Mr. Canning, baker, and Mr. Eley, butcher, destroying the bakehouse of the former and the back premises of the latter, and making havoc with everything it passed over. These and other buildings in the neighborhood are the property of Mr. Johnson, of the Windsor Castle, who estimates his loss at about £800. It would be impossible to particularise all the damage that was done by the whirlwind as it swept onwards ; chimneys, closets, and fowlhouses were here ami there lifted up and carried away in pieces or bodily, no one knew where ; gates were lifted olf their hinges, or driven in by stray masses of timber, with the force of a battering ram : and here and there the roofs of dwelling-houses feli into the rooms, and smashing all beneath them. The verandah of Mr. George, butcher's shop. was carried 300 or 400 yards up the street, anc: obligingly left at the gate of Major Maison'e ; an. a policeman who was standing under it at tin time was lifted up, and thrown down, nnd rollec. on the ground, bruised, and otherwise most unmercifully treated. The next place where the damag< was most perceptible was where two dwelling houses stood, one on each side of Mr. Dillon Bell's, the farthest of which is owned by Mr. Craig. The damage to the roofs and othei portions of both these buildings was very great ; but singularly enough the whirlwind left Mr. Bell , ; house intact, excepting that the gate was lifter from its hinges and a portion of the verandah blown down.

On reaching the site of Mr. Hunter's building establishment, which consisted of a very large wooden building on the top of Parnell road, s scene of destruction was presented which almost beggars description. One mass of broken timber.', extending over an area of perhaps a quarter of an acre, was all that remained to the view of tin casual observer. The way in which this buildiru was demolished was peculiar, the destroying clement having, it would appear, entered throug! the doors, end exploded inside, blowing tlu building to pieces, levelling the greater portion ti the ground, nnd carrying numerous large an< small fragments of the timber in every directioi with an irresistible force. One large piece o: timber was hurled ogainst the entrance gate o' Mr. Link's house, which it smashed in, and tin. roof of one of the apartments fell through : then being fortunately no one in it at the time.

Another large mass of timber fell through tic roof of the Bishop's library. The galvanised irci block house recently erected en the top of tin hill was swept away bodily, the greater portion o' it being deposited in Mr. Ilny's paddock a quartet of a mile oil", and sheets of the galvanised hoi were found near at hand, twisted in all conceivable shapes, and even torn to shreds in some instances When the storm first came on, a number of little children, who had been playing about in tin neighbourhood, took shelter under the lee of the block-house, and when it was carried away, n piece of the timber or oilier material struck oin of the children, a little girl, and broke her arm Luckily, all the churches escaped, with tho exception of some slight damage done to the Komai Catholic place of worship, close to the back o. which the whirlwind passed.

Alter sweeping the block-house clean away, il took the direction of the Tamaki; and there is ik knowing, at present, what damage it may not hart done after leaving Auckland. There were severs persons who received wounds and bruises, but fortunately no lives were lost. A young lad had hi: log broken ; a Mr. Soales was very seriously cv about the face by some falling timber; and an other person received a scalp wound; but n<. doubt there have been olhe-r casualties, thouglnot very serious, or we should have heard of them

All the above occurred within the epace of r. few minutes, and tho people then begau to loot about to sec the extent of the damage, mam thinking, no doubt, that theirs had been tho mos: severe. The street was strewed with timbers and the broken shop fronts and unroofed and demolished buildings presented ipitiable appearance, considering the loss thn , . nmst fall upon the sufl'ercrs. Mr. Hunter's (the builder) loss unit! amount to as much as £1000: although a portion of the machinery was got on' without much injury ; undthe total value of properly destroyed during tlie brief space of fire minutes it v tf:iid, about £5,000.

In llie evening large numbers of persons from Auckland visited Puruell to =cc the ruins, and it w;ts a general subject of wonder that so few persons Lad been injured. But tho eiiccte of the whirlwind were not confined to rhe land. Two or three vessels in the harbor narrowly escaped being sunk. The captain of the Tyburuia happened to bo standing on the poop deck of his vessel at the lime, aiiul saw the whirlwind approaching. It struck tLc vessel on tiic broadside, and

passed between the fore and main mast?, shaking them violently.

The whirlwind then passed on between the storn of the Ganges and the bows of the Owen Glendower, upseli ins the punt belonging to the former, and giving the latter :» severe shaking. It

afterwards came in contact with the Denvcnt Hunter, and for a moment that vessel was in imminent danger of being capsized, a* >l;e wr.s struck with great ion con the broadside. The cutter Petrel, from Wungtuvi, hud just dropped her anchor, when the whirlwind struck her, tearing away her tails, nnd knocking overboard one of the men on deck, named Henry Smith. A boat was immediately put out, and the man who held on to a cask which was also knocked overboard, wae saved. There were other casualties in the harbor, but none of them, we believe, were of a serious nature. It is not at all improbable that the whirlwind, which was in the shupe of a circling cloud, and was seen clearly by many persons in Auckland, was highly charged with electricity, and that this may have increased the extraordinary force and destrucliveness of it.