AUSTRALIAN WEATHER

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 December 1934, Page 7

AUSTRALIAN WEATHER

STORMSAND HEATWAVES 100 DEGREES AT MIDNIGHT, [BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] (Recd. Decembei* 19, 11 a.m.) MELBOURNE, December 19.. Considerable damage was done in the country districts in Victoria, when a fierce storm passed across the State. Many buildings were unroofed and fences and' walls were blown down. During the storm, which was accompanied by heavy clouds of dust, a motor van carrying members of a. theatrical company, struck, an electric light pole near Illowa, and Mrs Broadway suffered injuries, resulting in one foot being amputated in the hospital. Other members were cut by broken glass. The storm was most serious at Duyen, where the wind blew with hurricane force. The Roman Catholic Cathedral was shifted on its foundation, and great damage was caused to ripe wheat crops. The Town Hall chimney, a hundred feet- high, collapsed at St. Arnaud and crashed through the roof. Intense heat accompanied the storm, and in the Sea Lake district, the temperature at midnight was still more than a hundred degrees. The heat., wave continues in New South Wales and Queensland, and with, numerous registrations of over a century.. At Charleville (Queensland) a .temperature of 115 degrees was recorded.

WAIROA THUNDERSTORM. WIRELESS STATION DAMAGED. WAIROA, December 19. During the height of a heavy thun-der-storm yesterday, Station 2GP, owned and operated by E. A. Perry, was struck by lightning. v The flash hit the short-wave aerial, and travelled down to the studio, causing damage estimated at £lOO. The discharge also reached the private residence of the owner, badly damaging an electric stove, causing a severe fright to Mrs Perry (senrj. It was remarkable that the flash did not fuse the wires on the metal mast, but it blew all the insulators off. The major discharge hit the operatingroom, which fortunately was unoccupied at the time, otherwise it would have caused serious injury. The station, which is one of the most popular for children’s sessions in the North Island, is now working on one quarter of the power previously,, and was on the air last night as usual, despite the huge task which confronted the owner. No other damage is reported in the district, although the thunderstorm was one of the severest in local history. '