DESTRUCTION AT CARTERTON

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21284, 2 October 1934, Page 12

DESTRUCTION AT CARTERTON

Wind of More Than ! i 100 Miles an Hour i WRECKAGE CARRIED FIVE I MILES ! i l-HLoi AnSui I.\l lON 1 ELr'.G.TA.M .'■ I WELLINGTON. October 1. Carterton is badly damaged. At a.m. a roaring sound in the Tararuas announced that a heavy wind was on the way. and an hour later it struck the town. At its height, the hurricane; reached more than 100 miles an hour. A full five miles away, at Parkvale. which was also badly damaged, were found broken sections of roof and other wreckage which had been blown all the way from Carterton. Business in the town is completely paralysed, and to-morrow there will be little busine.'s done, except what b necessary to supply the needs ol the countrv people. There is not a candle left in a town shop, owing to the electric power having been cut oft'. Among the Carterton business premises damaged worst are Deller's meat mart, the Wairarapa Farmers' Cooperative Association, Watson and Companv's premises, Mann's shop and store, Whvte's bakery, Frank Feist and Company's premises, Tyler's buildings, [nil and Hughes's building, and Wakelin Bros.' Hour mill. The South Wairarapa Motor building is nothing but a hollow shell, with only a portion of the roof left Happing in the wind. Every's garage is badly wrecked at the rear. The chimin vs of many houses were broken oil at the root level. Enormous damage was done to sheds generally, and there is partial destruction on almost everv farm in the surrounding district." The Bank of New Zealand building was to-day completely uninhabitable.

WHOLE PLANTATION RAZED

| ROWS OF CONCIiKTK ['OLIOS! HROKEN CARS TAMiI.KI) IN I'IAING ! YVIKI.S ITirr. PKENS Spcei.il Snrv:rcl Vi-:i.i,ington. Oct'.h■■!• l. "Never in nil my lif<-' have I seen ■u man-.' tree; strewn about the ground.'' was the comment made by a woman passenger who left Masterton this morning in a service car for Wellington. "The storm had not nit fvlasleriou when we left." she ..said, "and I v.-oiuL'ivd what on earth had happened when we gni near Greytov.n. Between there and Feather-ton the scene was almost indescribable. Trees wc:e down everywhere. There was one larg? plantation with not one .-ingle tree- s ai'.eiirg. If they were not snapped (.?' at 11'.' roots they were broken part way no the trunk. You may not b<l>w il. but no fewer than live Jrwgc tree- were ra/.ed to the ground in one place in le; s than one Illil'llC. 'What real.y frightened me most ol' all." she continued, "was the snapping of the concrete teicgraph poles. Whole rows of them seemed to be falling. •Vires were everywhere. 1 don't know whether you have ever seen wool being blown about in the wind. If von have, then you can get some idea of v. hat was happening to telegraph and light wires. They seemed to fill the air. We had a terrible times, dodging branches and all sorts of things that got caught up in the storm. Real/v we were lucky not to be killed. The driver of the car woul 1 extricate himself from one mass of debrk. and push on in the hope o," running at least a litllc out of the storm, when Ihero -would be another gust and dcvni would come more wires, trees, pole.-, and bits of debris. Now that I can look back on it. I am beginning to realise how lucky we were, for not a thing struck us. There; were times wnen we had to drive on the footpath, and there were times when we wo.-.dered if we could get ahead at all Somelimes another car was caught up in the wires and debris •■v-ou'd hold us mi. A ded to all that, the rivers were rising and we wondered what, entile! pussib'y happen

.MOTORISTS' STOr.Y i HOI'S KS IiI.OWN TO I'lh'CES j WELLINGTON. October 1. ! Two motorists. Mr 11. Richards! iDaniK.virkei and Mr W. Buckingham I , (Masterton i. had a lucky escape from, injury when, as they were passing] I through Carterton during the heigh' j | el' the hurricane, a flying sheet of iron ripped the hood of the car. It wa.- | j lifted clear, and smashed part, of the I side-car of a stationary motor-cycle. ' The travellers left Masterton at 7 a.m. i The wind was then blowing not "much more than a gale." The hurricane was I at its worst when they arrived at Car- ! terton, which seemed to be the centre !of destruction. The journey had taken j live hour.', and several times; the car I was forced oil the road. j "We were told in Carterton that we were mad to try to go any further." thev said in an interview. "We stopped in Carterton on the northern side for a while and then decided to make a dash for it. As we dodged through the town, i oofs of houses and sheds were Hying everywhere. We saw roofs lilted over telegraph wires and water tanks, in great numbers, blown over fences. We had to dodge these. In fact, we were dodging things almost all the way. "A big concrete parapet was knocked down from the Bank of New ! Zealand. Avery's garage was blown : to pieces. Nothing was left stauci- ! iug. A great many concrete power poles are down, some lying across the ' read. Pine trees in plantations stood i un to it fairiy well, but bluegums i .suffered, and big plantations have | been reduced to stumps. Those that ' were standing were cracking like guns when we passed. Millions of feet ol j wire are down. I "Between Carterton and Greytown. i a big passenger bus was found lying jon its side. Nearby was a motor-cycle I abandoned, It was not possible to ! ride it in the wind. Near Wamgawa I we saw men lving in groups on the road hanging on to their bicycles and to fences as well. At Tauherenikau we were told that the proprietor of the hotel, Mr F. Brough, was going to loose his dog from its kennel which was in danger of being blown away when a bluegum fell on top of him and he had to crawl under the ' branches to the dog. Brough was un- ' injured. "As we passed through C.'larevihe. iwe saw houses falling to pieces, j Brownlee's timber mill in Greytown j was badly damaged. Big stacks of I timber were thrown miles about the ieoun'ry. and orchards also suffered considerably."