MID AND SOUTH CANTERRURY LASHED BY VIOLENT GALES

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29002, 17 September 1959, Page 17

MID AND SOUTH CANTERRURY LASHED BY VIOLENT GALES

Violent north-westerly gales lashed the southern half of Canterbury late on Tuesday night and through the early hours of yesterday morning, leaving a trail of damage in their wake. Buildings were unroofed, and power poles and trees blown down.

Fires raged in the Peel Forest area near Geraldine, sweeping before the wind through a plantation and over dry farm land until halted by the Rangitata river. In South Canterbury the gale was accompanied by violent electrical storms, and considerable damage is reported to power and telephone lines in the area.

At Ashburton the gale was the worst experienced for 25 years. Gusts of up to 70 miles an hour wrecked haysheds, tore sheets of iron from roofs, and disrupted power supplies in many areas. The gale hit Ashburton shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday night and reached its peak between 12.30 a.m. and 1.30 a.m. yesterday. At least two buildings in the town area were badly damaged by the winds. A truck owned by the Midland Co-operative DairyCompany was crushed under the roof of a large garage when it collapsed after the gale had ripped open the wooden walls. A mobile crane had to be used to clear away the wreckage before the truck could be removed The building was situated at the rear of the company's factory in West street and was used as a garage for three trucks. However, only one truck was in the building when it was destroyed. About a third of the roof on Burnett's Motors. Ltd., concrete factory at the corner of South street and Chalmers avenue, was torn off by the gale and carried nearly 50 yards along the street. The force of the wind snapped off large roof beams and twisted the corrugated iron like tinfoil. Early yesterday, workmen balanced precariously on the roof, removing damaged sheets of iron and repairing the rafters. A wall in the building was also damaged and was leaning at a drunken angle for most of the day. , Other Damage A large area of the tile roof of St. Joseph's School was damaged but the school’s routine was not interrupted. A wall of a bus shelter owned by MidCanterbury Transport, Ltd., was blown over but no other damage was done, and a chimney crashed through the roof of a house in South street. No-one was hurt. Debris littered the Ashburton Domain yesterday morning. Branches had been torn off many trees, and one tree blocked the pathway near the Park street entrance.

The gale caught many persons by surprise and a number of would-be cyclists left their machines and either walked home or caught taxis. Even motorists had difficulties in keeping their cars on the roads and driving conditions were. at times, hazardous with large, black clouds of dust practically blocking the drivers’ vision.

Shortly after midnight a big area of the borough and country was without power. Lines were reported down in the Mayfield, Hinds, Ealing, Lowcliffe and Willowby areas. A section of East street. Tinwald, and street lighting west of the railway were also without power. * Employees of the Ashburton Electric Power and Gas Board worked through the night and all day yesterday on the lines and by late afternoon had restored the power to most areas. The majority of the damage was caused by shed tops and trees crashing across the wires. The Ashburtonrfostmaster (Mr R. H. Boyes) reported that only a few subscribers from the Springburn, Mayfield and Hinds exchanges had been affected by the gales. About a dozer, telephones in the borough area were also not working, he added. Mr Boyes said his department “got off lightly” considering the force of the gale. “Our lines are lighter, and our poles are closer together than those of the power boards, and this may have saved us from quite a bit of trouble,” be said Haysheds Wrecked A number of haysheds and barns throughout the county were wrecked by the gale, and some tiles on the roof of the Mount Somers Hotel were blown off. Nearly all of the county districts were affected to some extent by the winds. Members of the Methven Volunteer Fire Brigade

fought a plantation blaze, which broke out at 1.20 a.m., for two hours before it was brought under control. Road Blocked By Trees The Ashburton County engineer (Mr R. L Lindsay) reported that the Arundel-Darfield road was blocked by trees blown across it on the Methven side of the Pudding Hill bridge. Council workmen had the road cleared late yesterday afternoon. Housewives, too, did not escape the effects of the gale, and more than one spent several hours yesterday morning cleaning up dust that has filtered past doors and windows. A photographer in East street showed a reporter his workroom which was covered in about l-Bin of dust and grit Fires At Geraldine In the Geraldine district the gale left a trail of damage in its wake. Trees in various parts of the district were uprooted and tiles and iron blown from off a number of roofs. Fire fighters were called out late in the evening to a fire that raged in the Peel Forest area and swept through a plantation and across acres of dry farm land until It was halted by the Rangitata river. Fire Blown Out So terrific was the gale at times that men fighting the fire had difficulty in keeping on their feet. The strength of the wind, however, was to the advantage of the firefighters as it literally blew the fire out. In the Borough of Geraldine two fires broke out almost simultaneously and firemen and residents worked hard to bring one fire at the rear of the new maternity hospital block on “The Pines” site, and a plantation fire at the Pound site under control. . _ Timaru Escaped Lightly Although the maximum wind force at the Timaru airport at Levels at 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday was 50 knots, strong gale-force north-west winds were experienced in the city area. The engineer-manager of the Municipal Electricity Department (Mr R. D. Veitch) said some minor damage was rectified but only a few consumers in the city area were affected. The New Zealand Electricity Department's superintendent at Tekapo (Mr G. Scott) said there were no failures on the line from Tekapo to Timaru and none on the Mackenzie County Council's lines.

There was a violent electrical storm with heavy rain from about 8 p.m. on Tuesday until early yesterday morning. Sleet was experienced at Lilybank. The Ministry of Works reported heavy rain at its depot. The Rest. Lights flickered, - lightning flashed and wildfire gleamed in the western sky when Timaru caught the full fury of the gale, but, contrary to expectations, there was no devastation. Trees retain their blossoms, and, much to the surprise of the Reserves Department, no trees came down in city parks and reserves, nor was there any damage to the larger glass-houses in the city area. Some cloches were destroyed. Geraldine Telephones Out The Post and Telegraph Department’s acting residentengineer (Mr P. B. Keys) said that most damage to lines occurred in the Geraldine area, where 100 subscribers were affected. The Geraldine start were engaged on fault repair work during the day. Mr Keys expected that all services should be restored this evening. Permanent repairs will proceed as soon as possible. Cave and Albury subscribers were not affected to any great extent One line of six subscribers was damaged at Albury. One pole was broken, and a tree fell over a line at Totara Valley, eight subscribers being affected. A line serving eight subscribers at Waimate also came down. There was no damage reported at Fairlie or Temuka. Mr Keys attributed the absence of damage at Temuka to the fact that, during the last few months, the department has conducted a campaign against trees. The Ministry of Works highways overseer for South Canterbury (Mr R. E. Gilson) said that little damage had been found in the Mount Cook area. A chain or two of the Pukaki-Hermitage-Ball Hut main highway at the Hoophorn stream, about four miles from the Hermitage, is carrying excess water and the road has been cut up in places. Half an inch of rain was recorded at Lochaber, Fairlie. Fire Destroys Farmhouse At Nescroft, Cannington, the wind blew burning straw against a wooden farmhouse, quickly reducing the home of a young couple—married only three weeks ago—to a pile of chimney bricks and roofing iron. The couple were left with the clothes in which they stood. At Ranui, Mount Nessing, a 45foot veranda was ripped off, smashing chimney stacks in its flight towards a row of tall pines, 30 of which were blown over. Falling trees and branches caused power outages in several parts of South Canterbury. Wind and flying sand brought work on the Timaru wharves to a standstill on Tuesday night and extra lines were required on ships lin port.