WINTER'S DYING KICK

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 49, 27 August 1934, Page 11

WINTER'S DYING KICK

WIND AND WAVES

EASTBOURNE SUFFERS

Optimists who. deceived liy tho springlike days of last week, thought that winter was over, were disillusioned during the weekend. "Wellington, in common with many other districts, experienced tho worst southerly blow of the present winter and conditions wore as rough and as unpleasant as they could be.

It was on Friday evening that the unpleasantness began. A howling southerly galo with driving rain and bitterly cold temperatures made the late shopping night a literal washout. Saturday morning saw a slight improvement, the rain ceasing and the wind moderating somewhat, but conditions were to get worse, as it turned out, before really improving. The rcspito was but. brief, and Saturday afternoon reached the acmo of unpleasantness. A strong southerly galo was accompanied by heavy rain and at times hail. Tomperatures were bitterly cold and snow fell on the Orongorongos and other surrounding hills, although not as much as has fallou on. previous occasions this winter. While at its worst tho weather on Saturday afternoon and evening was tho wildes'; that Wellington has experienced this winter. Sunday was a better day, the wind having moderated very considerably since the previous night, but spasms of light' rain plus very cold temperatures made the day tho reverse of pleasant. A hard frost' last night, especially in the Hutt Valley, put the finishing touch to this sample of wintry weather, which tho optimist hopos will be the last of the season. When tho tide was high on Saturday ■ afternoon waves were assisted by the howling' wind to flood the Hutt Valley railway and to send clouds of spray right across the road on tho other side. It is a long time since so much water has been- on the railway trade, and gangs were continually at work clearing away the shinglo deposited by tho leaping waves, At Kaiwarra, whero embankment construction is in progress, and whero as yet there is no protecting wall of boulders and concrete; the waves accomplished a considerable amount of undermining and scoured out loose filling under the temporary tracks. j DAY'S BAY EOAD. But. it was along the Eastbourne Road, from Point Howard to Day's Bay, that the heavy 6cas whipped up by the gale produced their most spec- • taeular and. damaging effect combined although' from the purely spectacular aspect Lyall Bay and Island Bay probably had the best of the storm. Across the Eastbourne Eoad in numerous places broke wave after wave. Motor-cars had quite a hazardous time negotiating some of the more exposed corners, and one had its windscreen cracked by a small boulder which a wave lifted across the road, the same wave thoroughly saturating tho occupants of tho car. At tho height of tho storm on Saturday cars were held up in Lowry Bay an'i at Point Howard by the waves dashing over the road. Soaweed and small pieces of rock were deposited on the road, but the Highway Board's grader cleared away the rubble.almost as quiokly as it appeared, ijind, Uie road was never, blocked, for. traffic'. The Eastbourne Borough Council's bus service was not held up in 1 any way. No damage of any con- 1 sequence was done to tho road. , , A spring tide, helped by the strong- , southerly gale, was responsible for a ( considerable amount of, .erosion .affect- ] ing several properties ... Pukatoa ( Street, Eastbourne, about 5 p.m. on , Saturday. Professor. ;,Boyd-Wilson's J "bach," which collapsed on to the sand . during a previous storm this winter, | was,■washed about 13ft eawards, and j is bow resting against a protective , wall. • The "bach" was damaged by the storm. The ho.uso owned by Mr. ( D. Bodie is now at the extreme- end -, of the.bank, and two piles are partially \ exposed^ Tho house next door, owned by Mr. M. G. .durst, is also on the extreme find of the bank, while tho next .house, belonging to Mr. Griffiths, , is about sft away from1 thb edge. The storm carried away about Bft of the bank in front of these houses. Two housos were,Vacated after tho previous orosion took place, but one has since been reoccupied. A wooden protective wall on the beach was washed away,. ,'ind now lies further along the beach. Ah occupant of one of the houses said it was a fascinating and awe-inspiring sight watching the waves pound into (he laud. Mr. K. L. Cohen.';.; pnaperty at Ihe south end suffered considerably owing to the sea breaking in behind the < erosion wall erected at a consid- i crable expense to the owner only last week, and unless a solid concrete wall is erected immediately, commencing at ' the south end, which is the most vital < part, those owners at that.end are going ] to lose all their sections and houses with a repetition of southerly weather < similar to that of last Friday and Sat- ( mday. , A NUMBER OF SLIPS. . Tho Hutt River, / although running ] high, never reached flood lever, so 1 beyond the surface water in low-lying 1 areas usual after any heavy rain, there I has been no flooding to add to the gen- J oral discomfiture. i But, if there havo been no floods, f there have been numerous slips. In the -Taita Gorge several comparatively ' small slips were in their aggregate ox- ( tensive enough to causo a temporary 1 blockage. Vehicular traffic was held 1 up for a time completely, and would-be * travellers by buses were transferred to • the trains. A clearance, however, was ' quickly effected in a degree suf- < fioient to allow one-way traffic and that t with extreme caution, i Not a great deal of snow fell on the « Bimutakas, but tho road over tho hill [ was.completely blocked for a time by a ' large slip. Hero again a partial * clearance was quickly effected and cars •*■ are now able to get through. "> Many minor slips occurred elsewhere, l both in tho' city and suburbs, and on * country roads. ' Fortunately damage * to power linos arid to telegraphic and c telephonic communications seems to * have been practically negligible, but gardens at all exposed to the sou re- * ceived a severe buffeting, blackened £ foliage bearing mute evidence to tho * force of the biting wind. •'