SYDNEY HIT BY HURRICANE

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27992, 12 June 1956, Page 14

SYDNEY HIT BY HURRICANE

Damage To Shipping And Property (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) > SYDNEY, June 11. A hurricane struck Sydney and southern New South Wales yesterday, causing one death, several injuries, and carving a two-mile path of ruin. Seven gusts within ten minutes shortly before noon exceeded 75 miles an hour, and one of 83 miles an hour was the second highest ever recorded in Sydney. An 18-year-old youth, Barry Flemming, of Bega, was swept to his death by a huge wave as he was walking on a road 150 ft back from a 100 ft cliff at Tajjjra on the South Coast. He was carried into the sea, and after clinging desperately to a rock for a moment, disappeared. Two companions who had been, walking with him —Mr Edward Plumb, of Tathra, and Robert Sird, aged 17, of Bega—where swept for almost 200 yards along the road by the wave which ca-.'.ied Flemming away. They escaped shaken, but unhurt. A trawler almost sank in Twofold Bay, on the far South Coast last night, when its skipper attempted to bring a badly injured seaman to shore from a coastal steamer. The seaman, Mr nobert McErlane. aged 42, broke his hip when the cargo vessel Merino, wallowing in heavy seas off Eden, threw him from his bunk. The Merino put into Twofold Bay to try to land Mr McErlane. The trawler had to turn back, but a small net boat brought back the injured man.

Winds of 100 Knots The captains of two passenger aircraft. from the United States reported battling against head winds of up to 100 knots as they approached Sydney. The oil tanker Elizabeth B was almost wrecked in Botany Bay. The vessel dragged her own 40-ton buoys, and was stopped by an emergency anchor only 200 yards from the beach. Two elderly women were blown off their feet in Sydney suburban streets, and two children were knocked down and slightly injured when a hoarding was blown over at Rushcutter’s Bay. A young couple and their two children fled from their balcony when a 25ft brick wall crashed into a street in Redfern at the height of the hurricane.