SEVERE WEATHER

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 55, 28 November 1928, Page 11

SEVERE WEATHER

SHIPS IN DISTRESS MANY LIVES LOST ANOTHER LIFEBOAT CAPSIZED Very severe weather is reported in the North Sea and on the western coast of Europe, and several vessels have sent out distress signals, and it is known that many lives have been lost. (United Press Association. —By Electric Telegraph.—Copy right.) (Australian Press Association.) London, November 26. The weather in the North Sea is still very severe and numerous casualties are reported, including a number of men washed off ships. The captain of the Swedish steamer Garni, when the storm was raging and a lifeboat arrived, refused his crew permission to leave the vessel. Suddenly the Garin foundered at the mouth of the Zuider Zee. One man leaped into the water and was rescued by the lifeboat, but sixteen were, drowned. The French transport Cesaree sank in a storm on the Moroccan coast and eighteen of the crew were drowned. Four were saved by vessels which answered the wireless SOS. (“Times” Cables.) London, November 26. The Paris correspondent of “The Times” reports, that the British steamer Neath Abbey, off the Belgian coast, wirelessed that her position was dangerous, and she wanted immediate help. The French liner Ainiral Ponty wirelessed that she was drifting with flooded furnaces eastward of Brest. A tug has been dispatched. The trawler Lacoubre saved fifteen of the crew of the Italian cargo steamer Barbara, which founded off La Rochelle. •

There were no sailings all day from Calais, Boulogne, and Dieppe. Fifteen vessels are sheltering in Bordeaux roadstead, and many vessels have taken refuge at Toulon. The telegraphs are disorganised throughout France. Mauy trains were brought to a standstill by fallen trees. The Hague correspondent of “The Times” reports that the gales continue to rage off the Dutch coast. The Italian steamer Salento struck the shallows off Randvoort at night and sank. Daylight revealed only the bridge and masts, on which the crew were mustered. A violent squall passed, blotting out everything. When it cleared, there was no sign of ship or crew. Military aeroplanes which circled the spot were forced hurriedly to return. The Ymuiden lifeboat strove to reach the scene and capsized. Some of the lifeboatmen swam ashore and others drifted ashore clinging to the boat. A seventy-year-old lifeboatman was drowned.

Signals of distress were received , on other parts of the coast, including one from the German steamer Rudelsheim. A lifeboat was launched and assisted the vessel to reach Ymuiden in n damaged condition. A Dutch tug is still missing with a crew of sixteen.

DAMAGE IN BELGIUM DYKES BREACHED ANTWERP THREATENED (Australian Press Assu.—United Service. I Antwerp, November 26. Violent storms caused the Scheldt to overflow at high tide, bursting three dykes and inundating the greater part of the villages of Moerseke and Grembergen, where the railway station was submerged to a depth of six feet. Many inhabitants were forced to abandon their houses. The railways and roads and the low-lying meadows over a wide area are flooded live or six feet deep. The Rupel River broke a dyke and the water damaged several brick factories at Terhaegen, threatening sixty workmen’s cottages. Considerable damage was done at Antwerp, the water flooding warehouses and also the first floors of houses at St. Anne. The River Nethe overflowed and submerged the waterworks at Waelhem, resulting in a shortage of drinking water at Antwerp. The Governor has appealed for troops to assist in strengthening the dykes, several of which are seriously threatened. A hundred men were rushed up in motorlorries to build the Cnloo dyke on (he Scheldt. There are grave fears that to-night’s floodtide will renew the floods.

RESCUE OF CREW OF POMMERN THRILLING STORY (Australian Press Association.) London, November 26. The officers and cadets of the mercantile marine training barque the Pommern, landed from the German tug Heros, tell a thrilling story of their rescue. They were heading for Portsmouth, when in the heavy gale on Saturday the Pommern’s. three masts were washed away in quick succession. A German steamer nearby failed to get alongside, and the Pommern drifted nt the mercy of the gale for several hours. The German tug Seal.falke managed to pull alongside, but every attempt to get a hawser aboard failed. Heavy seas smashed in all the Pommern’s lifeboats, and the water was rising in the hold The Heros struggled till night long before she got a lifeline aboard. The boys aboard were drawn up on deck in perfect discipline, and were dragged off singly through the water, till ar. Admiralty tug came and rescued the remainder. GALE IN ENGLAND T' (British Official Wireless.! Rugby, November 26. Yesterday’s gale at one time reached in Liverpool. a wind speed of 93 miles an hour, equalling a pressure ot 261 b. to the square foot. The average wind speed at Liverpool throughout the day was 70 miles an hour. At Croydon a velocity of 79 miles an hour was recorded during the afternoon.

Severe weather has been almost worldwide, and many fatal accidents are reported on sea and land. ■ The French steamer Emile Delmas, whose crew of 24 was gallantly rescued by the New Brighton lifeboat, has stranded near Mersey bar. The wind has moderated somewhat in London to-day. The forecast is for strong north-easterly winds, reaching gale force at times.

TYPHOON IN PHILIPPINES GREAT DAMAGE DONE (Australian Press Association.) Manila, November 26. The most severe typhoon experienced in the Philippine Islands in years swept the southern part of Luzon Island, the gale at times reaching a velocity of seventy miles an hour. The damage is estimated at millions of dollars, 30 per cent, of the coconut crop being reported destroyed. Llegaspi port and town were flooded, and the Government Buildings damaged. Several small ships were wrecked at various points' along the coast, and telegraph lines severed. The wireless reports of destruction are fragmentary. DAMAGE IN CAPE DISTRICTS (Australian Press Assn.—United Service.) Cape Town, November 26. A storm, to which a terrific downpour was the prelude, in the Eastern Cape districts, did damage in the Riversdalc district estimated at £40,000. Houses were demolished and two thousand stock drowned. Fruit trees and crops were swept away. The mail steamer wat nine hours late.