EARTHQUAKE CASUALTY LISTS MOUNT OMINOUSLY

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 112, 5 February 1931, Page 9

EARTHQUAKE CASUALTY LISTS MOUNT OMINOUSLY

NAPIER TO BE EVACUATED

Appalling Conditions Revealed ARDUOUS RESCUE WORK STILL PROCEEDS Injured Being Brought To Wellington

Although the full details of Napier’s tragedy y et . into Wellington ing lists of dead and injured are by no means complete, repo - clarity that the earlier yesterday and last evening from the stricken areas indica , ° stated rather than exaggerated IraxmU of the Hawke's Bay disaster-appalling as they rather the true position. . w „ ct ; n(T< . P r i ear estimate of the damage done Napier and Hastings are smoking ruins. In Hasting. Th re lief work is proceeding and an official estimate of the casualties, have been secure . tances< j n Napier, however, apace and the organisation is as complete as possible in t made to cope with fhe s j tuat i on thTdonditions could hardly be worse. . Strenuous effo io & q{ Na pier within two days has to advise New Zealand of the casualties m the town The . { the i n h a bitants do not leave been ordered, the authorities fearing an outbreak of serious disease the town expeditiously. .on dead . It is reported that The official estimate of the Hastings casualties is between 80 ai at Mohaka . The 31 persons were killed in Taradale, three at Wairoa, and o no every reason to fear that this authorities at Napier have issued the names of eleven dead, but there is every is but the prelude to a list of shocking dimensions. witnesses They describe the fate The story of Napier’s destruction is told by re fugees and eye-w’tnesses of those who were trapped in the falling buildings—-the disaster w . gm tk j nk i n g O nly o f their nurses were killed in their sleep and others displayed mag ol i aqse( j behaved in praiseworthy patients. Prisoners from the Napier prison, the walls of which collapsed, Denave F fashion and assisted in some of the rescue work. Citv last evening, poignant scenes An express train from the Napier area arrived in Wellington City g being witnessed when a waiting group, of residents began the■ f a friends. A train conveying injured is expected at Wellington at .

STRICKEN NAPIER

Toll of Destruction DEAFENING ROAR Unbelievable Ruin Dominion Special Service. Napier, February 4. Shrouded with a pall of evil-smelling smoke, Napier has become overnight a skeleton of its former self and the . grave of what still remaips an inde- - terminate number of its population of about " 20,000 persons. With ' one gigantic sweep the earthquake has reduced the town to a heap of ruins still blazing and crumbling at each shake. ' The population has become a com-munity-without a home, without food or‘water, and for the most part without’ shelter. In one moment, so sudden was the visitation, the population was divorced from its town to become, as'it were, a thing apart from the roaring mass of buildings that joined in one great conflagration from end to end of the business area. > The futility of describing the tremendous havoc can only be realised by those who have seen the aftermath of the Dominion’s most disastrous upheaval, and particularly by those who have gone through it and yet show an almost unbelievable calmness. Napier as a town has been wiped off the map. To-day it is a smouldering heap of ruins, the sepulchre of a prosperous port and the gaunt remains of a beautiful seaside town. Its people are wandering the streets hopelessly, yet with a fortitude born of extreme adversity. Before them the seafront has receded perhaps a hundred feet from the famous parade that itself has risen from eight to ten feet. Behind them the whole town is a reeking mass of ruins with not one building standing in the centre part enclosed by Dickens, Emerson, Tenny'sbn and : Hastings ' Streets. The face of the Bluff has come down across the road to Port Ahuriri and blocked access to it by land as well as bv sea, at least for the moment. Whole faces of the Hospital Hill and the other heights behind the town have crashed bn' to the buildings below. Not a building In Napier has escaped damage. Houses have lost chimneys or whole sides. Streets have been tom up like billiard cloths ripped with a sturdy cue, and telegraph poles have been thrust at a crazy angle over every road with wires tangled and hanging from wrecked buildings like charred serpents suspended from the last branches of a brick and concrete forest.' ■ ' The accounts of those who were in the town at the time of the upheaval show that the movement of the earth was almost vertical, and that the whole area was forced upward for several feet with one terrific jerk, to subside with a sickening jolt. As appears.to have been the case in other parts of the stricken district, the upheaval came like a flash and left behind it a trail of ruin within a few seconds. At 11 o’clock in the morning shops and offices were full of people. There was an immediate rush for the streets, but those who gained them were in many instances buried as they reached the footpaths. The whole of Napier was deafened with the roar of falling masonry. Then a strange silence followed for a space. Suddenly recovering from their terror, the people raced for the fore■hore to avoid being trapped by still crumbling buildings. Even on the beach the sight was terrifying. The sea washed away from the beach for, it is stated, hundreds of feet, and then rolled back. At the same time the Bluff roared over the road at its foot. Rocks that before had never appeared above the surface came above the water level, the whole seafront rising about 8 or 10 feet. Appalled, the residents of Napier razed in horrified amazement at the destruction. The hills behind the town were crumbling away in clouds or dust, whole sides of houses high above the shore were being torn away, and «n the flat huge tongues of flame were appearing from every direction. The town was Immediately Isolated from PbM tutsldb world- and. Nanier was left

a blazing ruin to witness the burning of its very heart for a day and a night. No possible estimate can be made at the moment of the death .roll although it is thought that it is considerable, and that it might run into hundreds.

The nurses’ home and the hospital on the hill collapsed like weatherboarding in a hurricane, and it is known that at least seven deaths have occurred among the nurses. It is also feared that a number of students, probably 40, at the Technical School, at the south end of the town, have perished beneath the buildings, which tumbled in and rolled partly across the road. I Dr.’Moore’s hospital on the seafront, a two-story structure, tilted back several feet in the front to lie at a queer angle, and crumpled in at the back. No report has yet been made as to the numbers who might have died within the building, nor can any. statement be made as to the numbers who have lost ’their , lives in the. heart of the business area, which until late this morning was a roaring mass of flame. It would be'practically useless to differentiate between the buildings that have been destroyed and those still standing. A statement that the entire central part of the town from the seafront to the gardens on the south has been razed, covers the position. < Apart from that incalculable damage has been done in every direction, and there is not a part of Napier that has not suffered. The back country for miles is covered with cracks in the earth, some too wide for a man to jump. Roads have been torn up In places, bridges have been thrust feet out of alignment, and railway lines., lead to one bridge several feet clear of the ground. ARRIVAL OF WARSHIPS Shortage of Food CLEARING THE DEBRIS 'Dominion Special Service. Napier, February 4, , It was one consolation for the stricken inhabitants of Napier that the weather was fine after, the earthquake. Diving indoors was made quite impossible, ami the town spent the night in the open. After dark the flames from the burning town cast a fierce glow on to the hills and reflected dimly upon small groups of people taking whatever shelter they, could get below. ■ I . Tents were erected along the beach, but if a family had no such covering it was content to spread a matrress or two in front of the house gate and sleep in the street,. where falling debris could do no harm. The public gardens were turned into a popular sleeping place, but for the most part people wandered around the streets away from the main centre and gazed in dazed fashion upon the huge fire. Morning broke fine and clear, and it was realised early that immediate precautions would have to be taken to provide food and water for thousands. Business was naturally at a complete standstill and there was not a shop of the few-standing open. Being cut off from the world, as far as telegraphic communications were concerned, the majority of the people were anxious concerning the relief that would be offered, as they were powerless to do anything for themselves. Most of the households, many now pitifully reduced in number, had sufficient food for a morning meal.. but the town’s water supply had failed and other services were, no .more to be had. One of the most urgent needs was medical and nursing assistance, and the town was gratified to learn at a fairly early hour that both the Government mid the Navy, as well as private individuals, were coming to their aid Oyer 300 serious casualties had been admitted to the Napier Park emergency dressing station at an early hour, and these will require special attention. Wireless communication was estnolirihed with Wellington from I he park in the morning and a large number of messages was transmitted. Valuable relief was afforded upon the arrival of a specially recruited Red Cross party, under Mr. V. H. Ross and Mr. Peterson. In addition, a party of about 20 nurses and six doctors, including Dr. T. H. Watt, assistant-Director-General of Health, arrived from Wellington. Nurses also arrived from the Kensington Street Home in Wellington and from other parts of the province, while doctors enme from all parts. As the day progressed the already apparent shortage of food gave promise of becoming niore acute, and the shortage of wafer was also making itself felt. There was no water at all to be had in town for the great majority, and only a very few had any. Money was of no . use at all in Napier to-day. as the necessi- ! ties of life could not be bought, and everything else was at a standstill. It was thus a great relief for those on the waterfront to see the warships Diomede and Dunedin arrive at a fairly early hour after a fast run down the coast frora Auckland. With its usual ffliiet

efficiency, the Navy made its presence felt within a short time, in spite of the fact that those who landed had to be brought into the town by a circuitous route. Armed Marines made an appearance in the streets, and parties marched through the wrecked town to prevent a recurrence of the pillaging of the before. Shortly after lorries appeared in the town bearing the sign Navy Food, and it was not long after that bread and other things could be had. Even so, supplies were not excessive at first, and care had to be taken in the rationing. The appearance of the naval ratings had a good effect in the town, and from the time they arrived the real organisation of relief work was started. However, much ground work had already been done by the police, who received reinforcements from other districts, the commissioner, Mr. W. G. Wohlmann, coming through from Wellington overnight. , , , Everything had been prepared by the warships for extreme emergencies. Luckily, they were fully provisioned for a cruise, but before leaving Auckland everything in the way of food available was rushed on board. The bakers worked all night on the trip down the coir”, and the carpenters were fully occupied making splints. ’ A special class in stretcher work was taken on the trip, and as soon as the men landed they were in a position to give immediate help. The average speed on the run down was 24 knots, and as much as 28 knots was done. Parties from the boats were detailed to land stores, which were brought ashore in great quantities. Other .parties were detailed to clear away debris from buildings under which it was known people were buried. A start was made on the Technical School in the afternoon, the latest information stating that 40 boys were buried beneath the. ruins. Other parties of marines started upon the demolition of the remnants of buildings to avoid further injury to people, and the first blasting operations were started shortly after midday. Still other parties were set upon an attempt to reestablish telegraphic communications. Huge quantities of medical supplies were brought to Napier by the warships, and it is believed that almost everything that will be needed in the meantime has been secured as a result. On board the Dunedin were 12 doctors and several nurses, and the Diomede carried 10 nurses and about eight doctors from Auckland. By early in the afternoon the position as far as casualties were concerned had been got in hand, and there was ample staff to cope with the work. It is hoped to take as many away as possible in the near future, and the steamers Taranaki and Northumberland were still standing off the shore in the afternoon in case they will be needed to transport serious cases to either Wellington or Auckland. The sympathy of the Government for the sufferers* was also shown by the early arrival in the stricken area of four members of the Cabinet, the Hon. R; Masters, the Hon. J. G. Cobbe. the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy, and the Hon. E. A. Ransom. They stated that a preliminary meeting of a small Government committee had been held in Napier for the purpose of arranging relief, and they were able to assure the people that the Government would do everything it equid. Both Dominion Motors and General Motors offered the use of as many cars and lorries as they could gather, and a number has already arrived laden with provisions. The sympathy and support of the Wellington City Council has also been offered to Napier. Members of Parliament who have already arrived in the area include Mr. R. Semple, Mr. W. Nash, and Mr. P. Fraser, all of Wellington. The evacuation of the women and children from the area is one of the chief concerns at the moment. Already hundreds have gone by private cars, and it was expected that at least another 400 would be sent, away by to-night. It is fully realised that serious danger now exists throughout the district through the complete loss of all sanitary arrangements, and every effort is being made to avoid a second disaster. A special committee of Napier citizens has been formed to avoid trouble in this respect, and although both the newspaper offices are shattered an effort is being made by one to bring out a sheet" merely for the purpose of issuing instructions regarding sanitary arrangements. Further assistance in these matters will be given by military authorities, nnd 12 military lorries laden with blankets and stores are expected to reach here to-night. REPORT DENIED News of Lowry Family The report cabled yesterday that Mr. and Mrs. Jim Lowry, of Oreka, Hastings, are in Sydney, is untrue, as they were unable to get away for Miss Falkiner’s wedding to Mr. Eric Nelson. Mrs. T. H. Lowry went to Australia for the event, accompanied by Miss Ruth Scannell, of Hastings, and they will leave Sydney to-morrow by the Aorangi. Mr. and Mrs. Eric Nelson will also be passengers.

The Egmont Racing Club telegraphed the Government yesterday suggesting that the Government taxation of the meeting should be paid b y the club to the earthquake relief fund. A reply has been received disapproving of the ptopoMl,