DELUGE IN SYDNEY

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 35, 11 February 1935, Page 9

DELUGE IN SYDNEY

FIERCE THUNDERSTORM

TERRIFYING INCIDENTS

DAMAGE BY LIGHTNING

Dulled Press Association—By Electric Tele- .. graph—Copyright. SYDNEY, February 10. A severe tropical disturbance covering the Tasman Sea. and the coast of New South Wales produced a deluge in Sydney on Saturday, necessitating the abandonment or the postponement of all forms of. sport. The weather authorities predict that the heavy,rain which is falling in the coastal areas is likely to produce floods m many rivers. The Canterbury Park races were postponed until Thursday: Yesterday's storm was responsible for very fierce lightning and thunder, people in all parts of the State having terrifying experiences. A fireball about midnight struck the large tannery of J. Bailey and Sons at Botany Bay and caused thousands of pounds' worth of damage. A new brick wall was moved several inches and a holewas pierced in it. Eight garages were wrecked, and several trees torn down. Roofing iron from the-tannery was carried across' the street, and sheets of asbestos were smashed to atoms, splinters being driven into the butts of trees. Outbuildings were considerably damaged and machinery withm the tannery was knocked about by falling debris. Reports from the country state that an elderly man was temporarily blinded at Lithgow while putting on a kettle. A woman was rendered unconscious while standing at her kitchen door, and a man at Gulgong *while; lighting a cigarette was stunned and the cigarette • cut in halves. Two horses were killed in a paddock at Lithgow. A 50-feet concrete wall surrounding a tennis court "at Newcastle was destroyed. A man who was walking on the rifle range at Liverpool received a great scare when lightning ran up one leg and an arm and smashed an umbrella he was carrying. Leslie Hall, aged 39, attempted to rescue a frightened kitten which was taking refuge beneath a stationary tram at Pyrmont, and immediately he emerged he was struck by a passing motor-car and killed. , His two companions, who were assisting to locate the kitten, were knocked down and injured. The- accident, occurred in drenching rain, which prevented the motorist from .seeing clearly ahead.