Thunderstorm Brings ‘Fantastic’ Rain, Hail

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31221, 19 November 1966, Page 1

Thunderstorm Brings ‘Fantastic’ Rain, Hail

Streets were flooded, hail lashed gardens, power and telephone services were interrupted by lightning and minor damage was caused to some homes and shops when a thunderstorm struck Christchurch early yesterday afternoon.

The worst hit was the north-west part of the city. In Fendalton. one inch and a half of rain fell in half an hour from one o’clock.

“This recording was fantastic, and is the highest for such a period in my 25 years at Christchurch,” said the chief observer at the Meteorological Office, Christchurch Airport (Mr A. K. Brown).

“No wonder the place was awash,” he said.

“The recording was taken by Mr G. Warren, Weka street, and was a reliable reading,” Mr Brown said. “It was pretty near a cloudburst.”

The storm struck about 1 p.m. and was concentrated in the Riccarton and Fendalton areas. Two to three inches of hail was lying in gardens in the area. A resident who lives near Church corner. Upper Riccarton, said the hail was so thick, “it looked just like a winter scene."

Traffic in the city and suburbs slowed to a crawl, and because of poor visibility, many drivers switched on headlights. Many streets were awash, and water was up to 18 inches deep on some streets. Temperature Fell The temperature dropped sharply. Mr Brown said that at 1 o’clock it was 57 degrees and at 1.5 p.m. had dropped to 46 degrees. This was the lowest it reached during the storm.

The wind changed from north-east to south-west about

12.30 p.m., and the downpour lasted about an hour from 1 p.m. At Wigram, 53 inches of rain was recorded in 20 minutes; at Christchurch, .36 inches in half an hour; and at the Botanic Gardens, .56 inches in a similar period. | Mr Brown said that the i build-up of cloud and unstable lair conditions caused the I thunderstorm. The cloud before the storm was 22,000 ft i thick, with a high degree of j moisture content. Upper air temperatures were cold. Electricity in the Belfast and South Brighton areas was cut off when lightning struck power lines. Lightning also struck wires leading into a house in Fendalton road. The Christchurch Fire Brigade answered a call to it, but there was no damage. Power Cut The electricity supply to the Belfast area, and consumers in the North road and Grimseys road area, was interrupted at 1.15 p.m. and was restored to most users by 2.30 p.m., said the chief engineer of the Municipal Electricity Department, Mr W. D. Johnstone.

But because of lightning, repairs were necessary to two substations. One affected a group of consumers in the Tyrone street area, Belfast, and power was restored at 3.15 p.m. The other was in Mot-

tram street, Northcote, where the supply was resumed at 3.51 p.m.

Mr Johnstone circuitbreakers worked on an 11,000volt line in South Brighton at 1.28 p.m., but the supply of electricity was resumed by 2.20 p.m. The Post Office's divisional engineer, Mr D. M. McFarlane, said a number of lines in the Tai Tapu and Lincoln areas were affected by lightning blowing.fuses in users’ homes.

Faultmen worked during the afternoon to restore services, and most were back to normal by 6 p.m. In the city, six cable faults were caused by seepage of water. Most were in 25-pair cables and about 100 subscribers were affected. Two cables in Papanui were temporarily out of action: two in St. Albans, one in Riccarton, and one in the central city area. City services were fully restored late in the afternoon. Shop Flooded The Rossall Butchery, at the intersection of Rossall street and Holmwood road, was flooded. At one stage there was four inches of water inside, and cars created waves as they passed along the flooded street, said Mrs A. G. O’Cain, an assistant in the shop.

When the water receded, half an inch of mud remained. But the use of buckets of water soon swept it into drains at the back of the shop. The tile roof of a house in Anstorer street, Bryndwr, was buckled by the weight of hail. Mr L. Parnell, who lives nearby, said he watched the hail pile up and the roof buckle.

One plumbing firm in Papanui received 20 calls between I. p.m. and 2.30 p.m. Mr J. Gleason, who works for the

firm, said that most were for blocked drainpipes. Wallpaper had been damaged in a few homes, he said. In Blenheim road water covered much of one traffic lane, and outside the International Harvester Company’s building the road was covered with water. Cars Stalled Several vehicles stopped with wet ignition systems, and water in the northern, lanes washed over the median strip. Some parked cars were standing in water up to the lower edge of their doors. A Transport Department officer helped motorists. At the Sockburn roundabout water stopped some vehicles, and others surged slowly through water nearly up to their axles. Rainwater backing up in gutterings caused damage at the Templeton Golf Club’s headquarters. Water seeped into a gap between the roof and the ceiling and the weight on the ceiling caused 14 sheets of hardboard to fall to the floor, leaving a gaping hole. Water came through the gap but there was little other damage. The showroom of Turnbull and Jones, Ltd., was flooded and the windows had to be cleared. Mr D. J. Campbell, the showroom manager, said the guttering had been unable to cope with the downpour.

Some stock was damaged at Hay’s, Ltd., when the guttering overflowed, but the Riccarton branch of the firm suffered worse flooding. Water entered the store and the staff had to pile goods on the counters.

“The gutters were not designed to cope with this sort of downpour, but our roof was not flooded,” said Mr W. G. W. Rix, the firm’s managing director. Going Ahead Although most of the material for the floats in Hay’s pageant today was outside at Papanui during the storm, damage was only slight and the parade will go ahead as planned at 10 a.m. Minor flooding had been reported in many parts of the city, with the worst in the Papanui and Mairehau areas, said the deputy engineer of the Christchurch Drainage Board (Mr H. P. Hunt).