84-MILE AN HOUR GUST

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 99, 22 January 1944, Page 4

84-MILE AN HOUR GUST

Wellington District Gale

TRANSPORT SERVICES AFFECTED

Sou. air and rail transport suffered interference yesterday in a strong south-east gale which swept Wellington, the East Coast and districts on the east of Cook Strait. No comimerI cial planes operated on the Cook .Strait run, but extra services will fly today. The AucklaiKl-’Wellingtou-Christehurcli and the Christchureh-Dunediu air services operated both ways. The steamer .from Nelson was several hours late in reaching Wellington, ’but the iuterislatid express steanfer was on time. Heavy seas in Cook Strait are reported. Several small steamers are held up and unlikely now to arrive before tomorrow. One Lias taken shelter in a buy. The gale, which reached 81 miles an hour at Rongotai yesterday morning, damaged the railways signal system between Wellington and Paekakariki, and all trains to and from Wellington in the morning were delayed 40 minutes. The. Limited was delayed two hours last night and other trains in the afternoon and evenings were behind schedule. There was no interruption of the Wellington-Hutt Valley train service, but along the waterfront trains had to slow down because of the force of the gale and the'smashing of the seas and spray on the protective works between the railroad and the water. It was not necessary, however, to run a single line service as has previously occurred when the spray has caused serious short-circuiting in the signals system. Service flying all over the (North Island was cancelled for the day. . . Besides the 84-mile-an-liour gust at Rongotai,. there were several above 70. The peak recorded at Kelburn was 63 miles an hour. Titahi Bay is believed to have experienced even more severe gusts, probably local down-draughts rather than a general district condition. The gale swept across the Manawatii Gorge into Hawke’s Bay and. up the South Taranaki Bight, the typical course of the bad southerly. A slight improvement is likely .tomorrow with rain on the There was a break in the sky on the west coast yesterday afternooi),.and' further rainfall of any consequence appears unlikely there meantime. A The rainfall (recorder at Kelburn showed 1.03 inches (103 points) for the 24 hours ended 9.30 a.m. yesterday, and there was little after that. That made 1.18 inches (118 points) in two days up to 9.30 a.m. yesterday, with the addition of the few points which fell later. Commercial aircraft on the Auckland run used ' the Paraparaumu landing ground yesterday. _ „„ At Te Karaka, on the East Coast, 1.63 inches of rain was recorded in two hours, and 2.96 inches in 24 hours. A severe thunderstorm moving south, left a trau of swollen rivers, blocked highways, and broke telephone communications in the high country of Gisborne. The Wharekopae River rose 15 feet in an hour; normally it takes two days to reach flood level. Lightning damaged telephone lines at Waingake. Three station bridges were swept away on Mr. John Hutchinson’s property at Otoko, and a power plant was washed out. Water rushed over the Hangaroa Road at Tiniroto and caused a washout. . Two yachts suffered in Wellington harbour. The Arawa, owned by Mr. N. ,W Thomas, broke a shackle and ran ashore at Shark Bay. She was holed. An attempt to tow her off did not sucCe Tlie 36 feet overall, 12-ton, yacht Wakarere, owned by Dr. J. K. Elliott and Dr. R. A. Elliott, sons of Sir James Elliott, who are overseas with the forces, was beached on the sandy shore at Evans Bay to prevent further damage. She dragged her moorings and was stranded near the slip. Attempts by a police launch to move her were unsuccessful, and before she was beached as the result of further efforts, she had been bumping heavily. The damage is superficial, and she is still structurally sound despite the buffeting. . If grazing freshens sufficiently a rise in store sheep and cattle prices is expected at next week’s sales in iHawkeJs Bay. At Waipukurau the rainfall lor 214‘hours ended 9 a.m. yesterday was 103 points (1.03 inches) against 58 points for all December. The Hastings fall was 87 points. Up till now many farmers were nervous about leaving their 'properties for any length of time because of the fire danger on parched areas. iSome had ploughed fire breaks. Tlie Napier-Gisborne road was reported clear last night. The damage to vegetable and flower gardens will be largely governed by the degree of shelter. Root crops should not be affected, but cabbages and the like are liable to be twisted in the soil, whiie insecurely staked peas would suffer severely. The worst damage would probably be to well-grown tomato plants which are in exposed positions. Commercial gardeners generally take care to provide their holdings with sufficient shelter, and it will bo the home gardeners on open sections who will fare the worst. A 120-feet pergola in .Riddiford Park, Lower Hutt, which features rambler roses in season, was blown down. The pergola was built of 6in. by 6in. jarrah, but the clothing of rose bushes created a resistance which ended in victory for the gale. There was the usual extensive damage to branches of high trees in the various botanical gardens, a small tree being blown down at the Kelburn end of the Wellington gardens.