VICTORIA’S STORM LOSSES

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 December 1934, Page 5

VICTORIA’S STORM LOSSES

MANY KILLED OR MISSING WIDE AREA INUNDATED [BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] MELBOURNE, December 2. Victoria, has counted the toll of one of the most devastating storms for many years. Eight persons already are reported to have been killed by electrocution, and the drowning is now feared of tlie complete crew of seventeen of the coastal steamer “Coramba.” She perished at the height of the . storm on Thursday night, in the vicinity of Newhaven, Phillip Island. So fax two bodies, together with a lifebelt bearing the name “Coramba” have been washed up on the beach in that locality. The “Coramba” had not been reported since Thursday at midday. The towns in the southern portions of the State, particularly in Gippsland', have passed through a terrible ordeal. It is estimated that-at-least seven thousand people are homeless. Thousands of refugees have been pouring into the unaffected areas. Fifty families have not been accounted for in the Garfield district of Gippsland. Six hundred people are sheltering at the Kooweerup railway station. No less than 11J inches of rain fell in thirty-eight hours at Gembrook. Special trains have been despatched as far as possible into the devastated areas to bring back homeless and hunger-stricken families. Between Dandenong and Frankston the flood waters cover nearly fifty square miles. The British Phosphate Commission’s motorship “Triona,” which, as cabled on Saturday, was stranded, has drifted off the sandbank and been towed to safety. The occupants of the kiosk at St. Kilda Pier came ashore yesterday. They were marooned overnight, owing to the impossibility of venturing along the pier. ’ The Union Company’s ship "Maheno” was due yesterday at seven a.m. She had not been sighted by 10 a.m. She is reported to have hove to, and been considerably delayed.

The question of whether the tennis championship will be played on Kooyong courts will depend upon a meeting of the Lawn Tennis Council, probably on Monday. The courts are now many feet under -water.

YARRA’S HIGH LEVEL. MELBOURNE, December 2. To-dav the floods ceased, and fine weather has returned. The storm has now moved eastwards, but has everywhere left a trail of destruction and widespread damage. Every lowlying street in South Melbourne and Port Melbourne, was wholly or partly under water. Boats were plying in all directions. The St. Kilda esplanade is not recognisable, due to the pounding of the seas, which also lashed private homes on the foreshores of Port Phillip. , . . The River Yarra, usually a sluggish stream about 200 yards wide, is now a raging torrent, and in some places is a mile wide. Yesterday, the water was within three feet of the decking of the Princes Bridge, whereas the Yarra’s normal level is forty feet below it. Shipping in the Yarra is temporarily suspended and the .docks are closed, owing to the impossibility of defining the course of the stream. All of the Gippsland railway services -are suspended, owing to four bridges having been washed away. CORAMBA BODIES FOUND. (Recd. December 3, 8 a.m.) MELBOURNE, December 2. The floods are becoming worse owing to rivers and creeks breaking their banks everywhere in Southern The steamer Coramba has been located a total wreck in Bay, off Nobby. Two bodies have been recovered. At least 2500 families in the metropolitan area are homeless. The Premier, Sir Stanley Argyle, has directed an immediate organisation to be set un to afford relief and sustenance. Hundreds of people, whose belongings have been lost or ruined, have already been provided with Many towns can be reached only by wireless, and the Postal Department is using aeroplanes to convey repair gangs to restore telegraphic commu--11 The metropolis is threatened with a stoppage of its electricity system by the flooding of the State Electricity Commission’s open cut at Yalbourn to a depth of 150 feet. Practically all the big industrial undertakings n Victoria receive power from this source, and a complete stoppage o the Yalbourn operations would be calamitous. LATER.

Latest figures disclose that thirty lives were lost. The following are homeless:— Four thousand at Abbotsford, 500 at Kensington, 200 at Richmond, .1000 at Mordialloc, and SOO at K °The° r gasworks at Heidelberg are under water. Two substantial bridges over the Yarra were swept awav. A thousand sheep and domestic animals perished. The Bay beaches are strewn with debris from the broken yachts, backyards and homes. . Emergency measures have been taken to keep Victoria supplied with electricity and power, in the event of Yalbourn failing. It is believed that the Coramba ran out of fuel while struggling to reach Westernport. Quantities of wreckage, two lifeboats and the ship’s bell were washed ashore at Newhaven. The bodies recovered are those of R. Wishart (second officer), and T. Byrne (seaman). Wishart was wearing a lifebelt and was clad in pyjamas. Most of the members of the Coramba’s crew were married. Among the victims were two of the survivors of the Casino, which foundered in Apollo Bay,“three years ago, and which the Coramba replaced.

CITY OF DESOLATION

RESCUERS KEPT BUSY (Recd. Dec. 3, Noon.). MELBOURNE, December 3. Melbourne is a city of desolation. The death-roll now totals thirty-four, and the damage to property is beyond calculation. The death-roll is made up as toilows:— Six persons reported dead on Saturday morning, seventeen men lost

in Coramba, six drowned at Kooweerup, three others perished in floods in tho country, and two children are missing since Saturday, and are believed to be drowned. This death-roll is believed to be incomplete, owing to the disorganisation of communications. It. is feared that it will be largely increased. Shipping schedules have been disorganised. The shores of Port Phillip are strewn with the wreckage of yachts, fishing craft, bathing boxes, jetties, and even houses. in Melbourne, many streets are still under water. Melbourne is threatened with a serious milk shortage. ’ The entire township of two thousand inhabitants, of Kooweerup, was evacuated. The water there rose at the rate, of a foot a minute. According to the police, serious loss of life was averted at Chelsea by volunteers, who manned fishermen’s boats, and rescued 1500 women and children. Tho boats sailed along the road from Chelsea to another suburb, Mordialloc. Battered by huge waves, the 90-ton former naval tender, Moonbi, on which were a woman and her two sons, broke the mooring lines, and was dashed to pieces against the stone-wall at West St. Kilda. The three occupants of the tender were rescued by a yacht. They were admitted to hospital, suffering from shock and exposure.

N.S.W. LOSSES. SYDNEY, December 1. Storms swept the southern districts of New South Wales yesterday, causing heavy damage to crops, fences, buildings and roads. Torrential rain has resulted in rivers and creeks rising dangerously. GREEK VICTIMS. (Received December 3, 10.30 a.m.) ’ ATHENS, December 2. Floods due to a week of rains drowned eighteen people, including travellers, on a. crowded lorry, which 1 was swept away by flood ■waters. The main bridge over the Cephiscus, connecting Athens with Phalerum was destroyed, ' and houses demolished. The cold increases the sufferings of the victims. The Government is giving every assistance. STORMS IN PHILIPPINES. MANILA, December 1. Another typhoon is reported to be nearing the Philippine Islands. Sixty dead have been counted in the central Philippines from a tempest on Thursday. That one was the sixth of a series of hurricanes which have caused over three hundred deaths in the last three months. The main casualties have been among the dwellers in the flimsy native shacks, which were flattened, and among fishermen caught at sea.