CHRISTCHURCH UNDER SNOW

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24619, 16 July 1945, Page 4

CHRISTCHURCH UNDER SNOW

DEPTHS UP TO 18 INCHES BUSINESS OF CITY PARALYSED Although the fierce north-west gale on Friday and the ominous sky ot Friday evening were accepted by many as portents oi exceptional weather still to come, the snow which xay to a record depth over the city on Saturday morning was a complete surprise to the great majority of Christchurch residents, There was no hint of snow at the time most ot the city went to bed; it arrived stealthily in the early hours ot the morning in a flat calm. The absence of the strong south-west wirjd on which the majority ot Christchurch’s occasional snowstorms arc borne was the reason why tew resident suspected what was happening outside their bedroom windows. It may also have been one of the reasons tor the unusual destructiveness of the snowiall. The huge flakes lodged and remained undisturbed on every surface. Electic light wires and telephone wires snapped under the burden of accumulated snow; smail trees and shrubs bent and were flattened under the growing weight. The fine weather that succeeded the snowstorm enabled good progress to be made with the big task of restoring services, but it will be many days before the city is back to normal. A frost yesterday morning delayed the work of clearing the streets, and il the melting snow treezes again it is probable, that many streets to-day will be dangerous to traffic, irr the early hours at least. The official measurement of the depth of snow at the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory was 11 inches, tour inches more than the previous highest record fall in July, 1918, Even yesterday morning, after 24 hours’ thawing and compressing, the recorded depth at the observatory was eight inches. A few areas of the city had a smaller deposit, and in Cathedral square the depth varied from seven to nine inches. In the suburbs, however, falls of up to 18 inches were recorded, and of course snow lay much more thickly in drifts. Russian Picture-Book Scenes Those who sought to go early to work found the roads almost impassable. It was a struggle for most persons to reach their own gates. A few tried to use their bicycles; most of them abandoned the attempt and many persons were seen carrying their machines toward the city. By 8 o’clock trucks had traversed most of the main thoroughfares, beating a path down the centre of each street. Along the parallel wheel tracks the majority of those residents who had business in the city tramped cautiously in a double file. Footpaths and the sides of the streets were deserted except for a few early snow-rakers. The scene was like something out of a- Russian picture-book. Motorists had a difficult task in the early part of the day. Even the heavy trucks of the City Council and Tramway Board found the going difficult and many had to be dug out of drifts after they had side-slipped from the centre of the road. Snow ploughs and graders were used to push the snow from the centre of the main roads and by the afternoon most streets in the city were open for traffic, although it was confined to a narrow lane in the centre of each. Deliveries of foodstuffs, newspapers, and mail were seriously affected on Saturday. Bakers’ vans found great difficulty in reaching some of the stores in the suburbs, while uncertain transport from the farm was a contributing factor in the late delivery of milk to most households. Many did not receive their morning milk until late in the evening. The storm is expected to have a further deleterious effect on the already curtailed milk supply of the city, and many consumers yesterday had to take short measure as well as late delivery. Postal deliveries in the suburbs were cancelled on Saturday morning, but deliveries will be resumed to-day. Many Fallen Wires The thin telephone wires suffered much more severely than the insulated electric light wires. Broken strands of wire hung from a large percentage of the poles, and although few of these were power lines a warning was broadcast against touching any fallen wires or fences with which fallen wires might have come in contact. The possibility of telephone wires having fallen across "live” wires was the chief source of danger, but no accidents were reported. One of the first tasks of the Municipal Electricity Department was to ensure that all fallen wires were “dead.” Property did not escape damage, although the total probably was not very considerable. Several shop verandas collapsed under the weight of snow, many spoutings were torn

from roofs as the melting snow slipped off, and many gardeners are deploring the loss of favourite shrubs and damage to fully-grown trees. The frequent sight of householders shovelling snow from "valley” roofs reminded the passer-by of thf damage that can be caused by thawing snow where such roofs are not equipped with snow traps. . Christchurch citizens reacted in a diversity of ways. Many tried to carry on “business as usual,” struggling through the snow to reach shop, office, or factory. Some employers found thepiselves with little or no staff; some employees found their places of employment closed. In the heart of the city shortly after 9 o’clock on Saturday morning there were queues of employees as well as customers waiting for shops to open. Some citizens devoted themselves to coping with their own particular show problems—clearing paths, repairing broken radio aerials, digging out snow-bound motorcars, and rescuing such garden shrubs as were bent rather than broken. Young people, and many not so young, enjoyed snow-balling, and the city produced more, bigger, and better snowmen than most persons could remember. Big Tasks for Public Bodies But there was little fun in the occurrence for the employees of local bodies and public utilities. Tramwaymen were out preparing for an emergency bus service soon after 3 a.m Electric power and telephone linesmen, who had had a busy day on Friday repairing gale damage, were called out early to cope with the new and more extensive trouble. The restoration of telephone lines to hospitals and other “high priority" subscribers was undertaken first, and as the day went on the' great majority of the telephone circuits in the city were restored. There were power failures in the early hours of the morning, and during the period of peak load from 7 a.m. to noon, current had to be rationed by cutting off various parts of the city in turn. Few consumers were long without power, however, except those whose lines from street to house had broken down. Yesterday the city rang to the clang of thousands of shovels and spades as residents joined the local body employees in clearing the frozen snow from footpaths and roadways. A radio request for the co-operation of the public in this work met, on the whole, with a gfcncrous response, and this will simplify the clearing task to-day. Christchurch residents were able yesterday to enjoy snow sports at their back door. There was a constant stream of ski-runners and toboggan enthusiasts toward the Cashmere Hills, and excellent conditions were found on all the slopes.