STORM FURY

Evening Star, Issue 24096, 17 January 1942, Page 6

STORM FURY

TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE ENORMOUS HAILSTONES GAPE SAUHDERS BATTERED A bombardment “ had nothing on ” the terrifying visitation experienced • by residents in a narrow strip of the Otago Peninsula at Cape Saunders last Wedl- - “It was for all the world as though we were being subjected to the effects of shrapnel,” stated a well-known farmer resident to the ‘ Star ’ this morning, “ and the worst part of it is that insurance does not cover any damage of this nature. Wireless and telephone wire connections were brought to the ground as though cut with a knife, and good solid iron roofing was punctured in four places. Windows were smashed, shingles on the house sides ripped from their places, gardens laid low and ruined, and the beaches and ground holed as though indented for some mammoth game of marbles.” TERRIFYING, It was a thunderstorm, the like of which had never before been experienced there. The ordeal was _ a terrifying one for residents; amidst the roar of thunder and flash of lightning hailstones as big as hens’ eggs showered and battered in full fury. The effect was amazing, and would simply not be believed by anyone who had not been on the spot at the time. PAINFUL INJURY. “ Some hailstones were as big as golf balls, and two of my workmen,” stated the resident, “ were caught before they could take cover. They were painfully struck by the huge - stones, and a blow from one of them raised a lump on the head of one of the men.” So great was the noise, explained the resident, that when the hail was falling on the house those inside were unable to hear each other speak, but in spite of their alarming experience the extraordinary sight that met their eyes when they were able to investigate the damage was something they-were quite unprepared for. EXIT WINDOWS. Fifty-one diamond-shaped panes of glass in the leadlight windows were smashed, and over 50 large panes of glass in the farm buildings, and others in the cottages also attached to the farm, were broken. An eight-acre crop of flattened and completely destroyed. The hail had cut the heads from off the stalks and thrown them.to the ground. It appeared as if someone had gone through the whole crop with a scythe. In the orchard trees were stripped of leaves and fruit, and the effect was the same in a large plantation of seven-year-old shelter trees—only the trunks and bare branches of the .trees remained. HAMMERED IRON. The, iron roof of the homestead was badly pitted by the huge hailstones, and it gave the appearance of someone having moved over it, striking it with a hammer. Paint was lifted, and as a result a coat only recently applied will have to be renewed. To restore the homestead alone is not likely to cost less than £7O. When the farmer resident examined his lawn he found it covered with small holes, each one similar to the mark that would he left if the lawn were struck by force with a golf ball. The vegetable garden presented a scene of desolation. A half-grown rabbit had been killed in the act of nibbling a cabbage. An area of an acre and a-half of potatoes just seemed to have vanished, for only stalks remained. Terrified cattle and horses had stampeded and smashed down_ fences, and one cow was covered with red bruises, It was reported that damage was done to cottages in the district near the farm, and the lighthouse at Cane Saunders was also in the path of the storm. Several windows were broken there, and a wooden handcart was split in half by lightning.