HEAVY HAILSTORM AT WAIMATE

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23541, 20 January 1942, Page 3

HEAVY HAILSTORM AT WAIMATE

* CROPS BADLY BUFFETTED A hailstorm which cut across a section of the Waimate district on Sunday afternoon has caused damage to wheat crops and small fn.t estimated to run into many hundreds of pounds In some areas hailstones as big as marbles were renorted, and one farmer stated tnat the storm was the worst of its kind he had seen since his arrival in the district in 1907. A preliminary survey of the damage at Douglas shows that at least twothirds of one crop of standing oats was ruined, while some wheat crops were cut and the heads emptied to such an extent that it is not considered worth while harvesting. In vegetable gardens in the Douglas district, lettuce in the path of the storm were pounded to pulp, while potatoes were left with only the central stalks standing. Apples were so severely bruised that rotting has already begun to show. Hailstones the size of marbles were still visible on the ground at Douglas yesterday morning. . The storm seemed to originate in the Douglas district, from whence it Passed across Waihao Forks and through the oorge to Waimate, and on out to sea_ Heavy thunder and vivid, flashes of lightning accompanied the disturbaiOn the seaward side of the Hunter Hills the principal damage appeared to be inflicted along the hillside itself and in the Waituna area. Gardens in the town escaped lightly. Hunter had no hail, Ikawai and Waihaorunga had very little, while Arno and Waihao Downs had a light fall.