BOISTEROUS WEATHER

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 July 1931, Page 5

BOISTEROUS WEATHER

WIND, RAIN & SNOW DAMAGE AROUND GREYMOUTH Winter was present in Greymouth yesterday, with all its attendant discomforts. A strong and bleak southerly wind, which at times reached gale force, was accompanied in the afternoon by heavy rain, making conditions the most unpleasant experienced this year. As the day advanced, so did the wind in volume, and the outcome was that a large amount of damage of varying degrees, was suffered by fences and buildings which were exposed to the full force of the wind. Closely boarded, and iron fences suffered most, a large number of these being thrown to the ground. Several aerial masts also failed to withstand the onslaughts of the wind, which came in formidable gusts. In Tainui Street, Mr P. Beck’s store was damaged when, the roof had a large portion lifted off under pressure from the gale. At the Main School, a large shelter shed, having approximately a 40-foot frontage, was picked up by the wind and lifted over the fence, to drop in Turamaha Street, while practically the whole of the fence was thrown to the ground. The grandstand at Victoria Park lost several sheets of iron at. the south end. Blaketown residents at the lagoon end caught the full blast, several fences falling, while the home of Mr Norman Potts in Reid Street, had the roof ripped off, sheets of iron being strewn across the road, and the hot water tank hurled against a telegraph post. The noise of the roof being torn away, awakened residents in the neighbourhood. one of whom remarked that he thought a thunderbolt had struck the house. An iron fence at the rear of the Golden Eagle Hotel caved in to the wind, as did another in Herbert Street. The latter -was thrown against an electric power 1 pole, which it pushed over to an angle of about 45 degrees. A window in the Union Steam Ship Company’s office "was shattered, and several sky-lights in Duncan McLean’s premises fared similarly. Trees also suffered, cabbage trees in particular being unable to withstand the conditions. ‘ , At Cobden, considerable minor damage was done during the night. Several houses lost their roof-iron, or parts of it, the sheets being carried, in some cases, a good distance before striking the ground. One or two verandahs were torn from buildings, and several sheds were entirely demolished. The chief damage, however, was to fowl-houses and fences. .. No damage has been reported in the Grey County. . The storm was not without its humorous side, to those possessing the saving grace. One ex-seafarer, sitting in comfort at Greymouth before a nice fire, was congratulating himself on being “home from the sea,” and mentally commiserating with his ex-col-leagues. Then part of tho roof blew off, and he had to “go aloft” and make things as snug as possible until the damage could be repaired.

SNOW AT ARTHUR’S PASS. A heavy fall of snow at Arthur s Pass interrupted the railway service. The goods trains which travel to and from Christchurch overnight, came up with nearly two feet of snow last night at the Pass, and were unable to run to schedule. A gang of men was dispatched from Greymouth, and assisted the local men in keeping the track and the points clear, enabling the trains to keep moving, but tins meant hours of delay in the traffic reaching Groymoutli and Christ cliuicli. Communication failed between the Pass and Springfield, making conditions more difficult. So far as the passenger service is concerned, the department does not expect any delay in the running of the expresses. The goods train which is, under ordinary circumstances, due to arrive at. 3.40 a.m., did not reach Greymouth until one o'clock this afternoon. The Public Works Department advise that two feet of snow on the Otira Gorge has rendered it impassable to traffic. TELEGRAPH LINES AFFECTED

The service to Christchurch was placed out of commission yesterday owing to several dead trees across the telegraph lines at Kumara and Jacksons. A repair gang remedied two faults in the afternoon, but other damage later caused interruption. Two telegraph outlets to Wellington and one to Christchurch, were restored about ll;30 a.m. to-day. conditions for the transmission of messages thus becoming practically normal. There were also interruptions between Bealey and Darfield. When on their return journey to Greymouth yesterday, after effecting repair work, two linesmen, Messrs K. N Glover and W. H. McLaughlin, had a'narrow escape from being struck by a falling tree at a point about two and a-half miles from Dillmanstown. It fell across the road immediately in front of their car, the front wheels riding over it, resulting in the machine being severely damaged. Slight injuries were received by both men, who walked to Kumara, where they were brought on to Greymouth by Mr Shannon, telegraph-line overseer. A wash-out on the Murchison road resulted in the Nelson mail, which is usuallv dispatched at 6.8 a.m. from Greymouth. being forwarded via Christchurch, last evening. The Westport Post Office authorities reported this morning that there was a slip on the Coast Road, but the mails left Greymouth as usual, as knowledge of the slip was not then held by the local office. The usual North Island mail for Westport, was forwarded yesterday from Christchurch, via the Nelson route. Trouble was experienced to-day in establishing communication with Nelson owing to interruption north of Murchison, but this had now been remedied. The telegraph service to the North Island was fully restored this afternoon, but messages to Christchurch were subject to three hours’ delay. The telephone service between Greymouth and Christchurch was faulty to-day, owing to snow near Darfield. SHIPPING AFFECTED. The bad weather encountered in Greymouth has had the effect of delaying to some extent shipping activities in the Port of Greymouth. Two Union Company’s cargo vessels, the Kaimiro and the Karepo, which arrived in the roadstead on Tuesday night, have not been able to cross the

bar, and tho departure of tho Kartigi has also been delayed for the past two days. There was a considerable sea on the bar to-day. and as the result of heavy rain in the country districts, there was a moderate run in the river.

HEAVY SNOWFALL. CHRISTCHURCH, July 9. The heaviest snowfall for 18 years covered Arthur’s Pass to a depth of, over two feet this morning, with drifts up to six feet in depth. The fall continued heavily overnight. Traffic delays of four hours were caused, but now the trains are moving fairly well on the Midland lino, despite the fact that the automatic, signalling apparatus is out of action. Gangs of men are clearing the lines. At Springfield, the depth of snow is 18 inches. AT WELLINGTON. WELLINGTON, July 8. Heavy rain has fallen here since the early hours of this morning. Flooding is reported in tho Hutt Valley. SHIP’S ROUGH TRIP. (Received July 9, 11 a.m.) SYDNEY, July 9. “We did everything but loop the loop,” was how chief engineer Reece described the nightmare experience of the steamer Surrey, which reached Sydney yesterday, after being tossed about in a cyclone off the Heads since Monday, in a. vain effort to make port. The vessel encountered raging seas all the way from the Cape of Good Hope. A seaman was lost overboard during the voyage.