GREAT SNOWFALL

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 217, 11 June 1935, Page 10

GREAT SNOWFALL

Canterbury Under White Mantle HEAVIEST IN 17 YEARS Telegraph Lines Badly Damaged TRANSPORT HAMPERED Dominion Special Service. Christchurch, June 10. Widespread damage io telegraph, telephone, and power lines was caused on Sunday night by the heaviest fall of snow that has occurred in Christchurch and North Canterbury for 17 years. Miles of wire broke under the weight of the accumulated snow and hundreds of poles snapped or bent almost double under the drain. By midnight on Sunday the Christchurch Telegraph Office had lost communication with stations to the northwest and south and the city 1 was isolated. The Post and Telegraph Department’s gangs were out at daybreak and began the tremendous task of repairing the most extensive damage that has ever occurred to the telegraph and telephone services in Canterbury. Telegraphic communication with Wellington was re-established at 8.30 p.m. to-day. It is hoped that the service to the West Coast will be restored this morning and to Dunedin this afternoon. Telephone communication to Wellington, Dunedin and the West Coast may also be restored to-day. All transport services were interrupted. The Railway Department’s telegraph lines were broken near Christchurch and control points were established at Rolleston and Rangiora. This caused slight delays and frozen points and heavy snow on the line also caused trouble, but the service was maintained, only two goods trains on. a branch line being cancelled.

Although the Christchurch Tramway Board had men out as early as midnight, it was nearly 10 a.m. before some of the first cars from the suburbs reached the .Square. Snow on the roads greatly delayed service cars and buses and some arrived at their destinations only after the utmost difficulty. Some trips had. to be cancelled. Motorists were in difficulty in many places and some cars had to be temporarily abandoned. Some of the country- districts were without electric power or light for many hours, and in some cases the power lias not yet been restored. The Public Works Department’s main lines from the Lake Coleridge power station did not suffer greatly, and by last evening the power had been restored to all the supply authorities except the North Canterbury Power Board. However, the lines and poles of power boards and other authorities fared badly and, because of the interruption in communication, it was not known last evening how many of the authorities were in a position to pass the supply on to their consumers. In the city the snow storm was followed by a hard frost and then a day of brilliant sunshine with no wind. The mid-winter sun, however, did not have sufficient heat to melt all the snow and by evening there was still a considerable coating on house tops, lawns and suburban streets. TARANAKI’S ORDEAL Gale, Electrical Storm and Rain SNOW ON THE MOUNTAIN ; Dominion Special Service. New Plymouth, June 10. A westerly gale, an electrical storm, and heavy rain B ave Taranaki a rough week-end. Boisterous as was the weather on the lower levels, its fullest intensity was felt on Mount Egmont, where three days of wintry conditions culminated in a fall of snow and bitter cold. Last night the seas off the coast were very rough. There were minor interruptions in the electric power supply of New Plymouth due to lines brought down by falling tree limbs, and also many fuses were blown. Some damage in the town reserves was caused by falling limbs of trees. Prom the town last evening vivid displays of sheet lightning, which continued for some hours, were seen in the east. The flashes were extraordinarily frequent, coming at short intervals throughout the early .evening. A variety of weather conditions reaching at times the worst intensityexperienced on the mountain for some years has been the order at the North Egmont Hostel over the last three days. There have been ''gales, hailstorms, thunder and lightning storms, and finally snow. Conditions were clearing to-day, but this evening it is bitterly cold. After a severe gale the hostel experienced thunderstorms last night, hail also falling. Members of the Taranaki Alpine Club, who spent the night in Taburangi Hut, near Humphries’ Castle, experienced boisterous weather conditions. The wind was so strong at the hut that tins thrown down the slope were whisked toward Hie summit up a steep grade. Snow began falling at the hostel toward midnight last night and continued intermittently this morning. It is impossible to say yet whether there has been much damage in the bush. 1 DIFFICULT ROADS Storm in Wanganui District Wanganui, June 10. Stormy conditions with a strong wind and a heavy thunderstorm prevailed in Wanganui throughout last night with the result that the rivers and streams in tlie district were running at a high level to-day. The Parapara Road is in a very greasy condition, and is only fit for negotiation by experienced drivers. A mail-car arrived at Wanganui from Raetihi just after noon. Any motorist using the road should carry chains Tlie Wanganui Automobile Association has been advised that motorists should not attempt to negotiate tlie Bruce Road without wiring tlie manager of

the Chateau to ascertain if the road is open. It is understood that the Wanganui River road, which was blocked by slips in the recent flood, will be closed for some time.

HEAVY SNOWFALL AT CHATEAU

National Park Conditions

With the temperature down to freezing point, snow was falling heavily at Chateau Tongariro (National Park) at 8.30 o’clock, last evening. Snow had also been falling on and off all day, and the opinion was expressed that a continuation of the fall throughout the night might block the district roads. Yesterday all roads in the vicinity of National Park were open. Adopting a usual practice, the Chateau management arranged for heavy lorries to use the roads throughout the day. conveying coal and general supplies. The result was that although the road surfaces were covered by a foot of snow, a vehicular track was kept clear. Over the greater part of the area north of National Park much rain has fallen, and all roads there and in National Park are reported to be slippery and pot-holed, making cautious driving essential. In spite of this the snow conditions have attracted a large influx of visitors to the Chateau, many of these travellers arriving last evening. “The sky is heavily overcast, the wind has dropped, and the snow is coming down thickly.” With these words the manager of the Chateau. Mr R. Cobbe, described the conditions existing after darkness had fallen. Following a big electrical storm on Sunday, he said, telegraphic: communication had been severed in the National Park area. The services, however were restored at 2 p.m. yesterday. MARTON’S EXPERIENCE By Telegraph.—Press Association. Marton, June 10. An electrical storm of unusual intensity was experienced in Marton last night, culminating this .morning in a terrific flash of lightning and a deafening thunderclap which shattered a large wattle tree in the borough. The storm was accompanied by heavy ritfn and hail, and it was bitterly cold. CHIMNEY DEMOLISHED Lightning Strikes House By Telegraph. —Press Association. Auckland, June 10. At the height of the storm last night lightning struck a house in the Mount Wellington district and the chimney was hurled in pieces through the roof into a room, demolishing tlie open fireplace. Everything electrical in the house was burned out and then the house caught fire. There were two families of eight persons in all in the house, but nobody was hurt. To-day the fireplace end of the room looked as if it had been struck by a shell. The switchboard, in another room, was shattered in pieces, and the electric stove looked as if it had been through a fire. In the cowshed about two chains from the house the switchhoard was blown out and part of it was blown through a small clock which stood on a sheft eight feet away. All the occupants of the house were in bed at the time, and the first <> llG woman knew was on seeing a sheet of blue flame and hearing a terrific crash. After finding that the children were unhurt she and other adults extinguished the fire with buckets of water. RESIDENTS ALARMED Electrical Storm at Thames By Telegraph.—Press Association. Thames, June 10. The worst electrical storm experienced in Thames within living memory raged over the district for over half an hour from 9.45 last evening. Excep- > tionally vivid and continuous flashes of lightning, heavy thunder and a deluge of hail and rain alarmed many residents, particularly when the lightning caused a failure in the power supply. Heralded oy vivid lightning and peals of thunder, the storm rapidly approached across the Firth from the west, and during its height the whole town was illuminated by the continuous flashes, but it passed as quickly as it came. There was r rapid change in tlie temperature. The power stipply was restored within an hour, except for one portion of the district served by a sub-station, which was put out of action by the lightning. Despite the intensity of the storm, no reports of serious damage are yet A) hand.