AT PALMERSTON NORTH

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 151, 29 June 1931, Page 10

AT PALMERSTON NORTH

VIVID THUNDERSTORM

Palmerston North had a stormy week-end, heavy downpours o' rain and strong winds making conditions out-of-doors most unpleasant. In the early hours of Saturday morning winds of almost cyclonic force caused minor damage throughout the city. Trees and' fences were blown down, and several windows were broken. An electric sign was dislodged, and smashed two windows where it hung over tho side of the building, and the roof was. lifted off a shed at the rear of a dwelling in King street. Wireless aerials were blown down, and gardens were damaged.

By mid-day, however, the outlook appeared more promising, although the weather was cold. Sunday . morning broke fairly clear, but early in tho afternoon tho sky clouded over and rain fell at intervals, and in the evening tho bleakness increased.

Torrential downpour?, of rain fell at 9 p.m., and the street channels were soon overflowing. Half an hour later one of the most vivid electrical storms experienced for many years occurred, and,brought with it brilliant lightning, accompanied by deafening thunderclaps. At 9.40 o'clock a flash of lightning tripped the switch at the Bunnythorpe sub-station and plunged Palmerston North into darkness. The supply was resumed almost immediately.