GISBORNE’S GALE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 12140, 30 December 1933, Page 5

GISBORNE’S GALE

•66" ajugh : minor daaiage. ■ Great, sea running. : iitJPY.BREAD'S aHrift; ; " : ManY TREES BLOAYN do;wn. ;W AINUI * ‘BACH’ ’ LEVELLED. Throughout yesterday Poverty Bay bore a severe thrashing from a southwesterly wifid of gale-like force. Not for many years has a .udpd of 'such force been experienced locally and a considerable amount of \minor . damage was caused in various parts of the town and district. A tremendous sea was, running in the bay and many residents visited the beach to view, tjie wonderfully spectacular effects.'Right out as far •as one could see there were rolling, murky breakers, rushing landwards at a; remarkable pace,_ eaqh ;bearing. •,a coronet of foam. The thunder of the seas .made speech in ordinary tones impossible at the beach and the terrific lashing which they gave the harbour works must pave severely tested those staunch structures. Very fortunately damage in .this connection, as far as coulcl be seen until a late hour last night, was practically negligible. The Te Moana light buoy broke adrift about: 5.3 Q p.m,. and came into the. Waikanae beach shallows about two hours later, appearing to become anchored some distance out by its trailing moorings. With an improvement in weather conditions to-day the buoy will be salvaged and replaced witix the . minimum of delay. Large quantities of driftwood were' to be noticed in tlie surf and supplies of winter firewood should he available when the weather moderates, though not in anything like the same quantities as is the case when flooding in the rivers occurs.

At high tide yesterday the seas inyaded backyards of beach residents ancj rushed an appreciable distance along the streets which, run down to the Waikanae beach, A stroll along the. beach’ esplanade at this time led to a soaking inevitably and even when the tide was well on its outward journey the. water’s edge was a matter of. only a few yards from the concrete wall. On the face of . things some shoaling in the harbor entrance appears inevitable, but it was not possible to take soundings yesterday. Numerous trees in different parts of the district were blown down yesterday, but ho accidents are reported ns the result of these happenings. In several cases, however, interference was caused to telegraph and power lines, resulting in parties of linesmen being engaged in repair work until a late hour last night. Various instances of damage as the direct result of the gale are reported. Possibly the most serious-occurred at Wfaiqui beach, where a recently erected “bach,” owned by Mrs. T. Y. Gutlibert, was practically demolished. This was. constructed froni two rail/way' works huts joined together by a verandah. So' recently had if been completed that no use lias yet been made of it and only a few articles of furniture had been placed in it. It was practically blown to bits and portions of it were strewn about' the road, resulting in practically total loss. The verandah of Hazell’s shop ni Wainui road was-lifted practically off by th e gale and a considerable measure of repair work will be requir ed in this connection. Tin fences in various parts of the borough were levelled, notahly one in Lowe street, adjoining the premises of the Hawke’s Bay Freight Service, In that case the posts supporting the sheet iron were snapped completely off and the whole structure was thrown out on to the pavement. The gale played great havoc with anything loose and once a breach was created rapid extension followed. An example of this was ..pivoyided. at,-the intersection of Peel Street and Gladstone road. A foot or two of insulation on a power line there had come adrift early yesterday afternoon and within a matter of about an hour there- was a strip of the binding, some 20ft, or so in length, whipping in the fierce wind and fast extending along the line. It was non-conductive created to passer shy, apart from the material, of course, so no danger was chance of a stinging flick. THU)A. RETURNS TO P(fc Owing to the intensity of the gale in the vicinity of Portland Island yesterday, Captain J. W. H. Holmes, of the coastal steamer Tiroa, found it necessary to return to this port. The vessel left here aj> .6.2 Q p.m. . on Thursday night with a cargo of wool for Napier but ran into -a strong south-south-west gale at Wkareongaonga. From thence onward' progress was very slow and, when off Portland Island, .Captain Holmes decided to return to this port, which was reached at H3O yesterday.; morning..No damage was suffered by the vessel.

ON THE WIIARERATAS. GALE CONSIDERED WORST IN . HISTORY. TREES DOWN IN ALL DIRECTIONS. " . j ; TELEGRAPH FAULTMAN’S EXPERIENCE. “The worst gale, I ever experienced since I started work as a linesman,” said Mr. !.B. Morrison, fanltman in the Gisborne telegraph office, when describing his experiences yesterday. Mr. Morrison said he had never known a wind of such terrific force. Usually one could fipd a sheltered spot somewhere. bat /yesterday" the wind blew from all directions. From the Bridge Hotel to the other side of the Wharejfptap, he'said; the-road is '.'strewp . leaves and branches and. practicp)iy, every tree is , stripped,-.At Mr Faulkner's a big break occurred, a large willow tree being blown clean - out,; and smashing all the lines,,thus- ’ cutting . off witli . .the -souibhi. • This was 'repaired by. L3O ,p ; m.. I'diith of' Nuhaka trees smashed down, the' lines in five places between that 'township, and Wairoa. ; „ •• ;■. , ’ ' • '

Oh the’;Whdfefata hills a! car was passed with the hood blown off.. The gale wsa then raging with unabated fury.' Kr Morrison placed . a ladder against a pole but it .was impossible to mount with liny safety. Finally he placed a rope round his body, the other end being thrown over the top of the pole, and he mounted, with his liiate on the, other side pulling’ the rope taiiht .’all the time. Part of the faultman’s work is to* communicate with t]ie head office as soon as a break is' repaired. This was found to be impossible under the usual '''conditions, and eventually the troublo was overcome by Mr. Morrison extending his line and crawling over the edge of the bank into the bracken where, lying a fufl he communicated with Gisborne. Qn the road again, it was found absolutely impossible for a man to keep his feet. • ' • " ' , The hurricane caused the wires ! to flap about, and very often they were swung right out of position, bumping too badly to test them, and it was marvellous that they stood up as well as they did. POTATO CROPS STRIPPED TO / STALKS. .At Muriwai bluegum trees were blown down and at the nineteen-mile bridge poplars were torn up by the roots. Titree is strewn all over the road for miles, and bracken is ever seen blown on the lines in the Whareratas. At the top of the hill a crop of potatoes had been stripped to the stalks. The veteran postmaster at the Wharerata office, Mr Morgan, who has lived in the locality all Jiis life, said he had never experienced such wind. In one case a large pinetree was screwed completely round and snapped off, and plantations were badly damaged. On top of the Whareratas a whare was stripped, the roof being carried thirty feet away, and the doors carried off in another direction. Some distance further along the road several sheets of 10ft. corrugated iron were being blown about, but where they came from, no one knew. One incident yesterday stands out ns quite unusual, stated Mr. Morrison. When on the Whareratas, spray from the sea continually dimmed the windscreen of the car, and one tasted it on the lips frequently. Despite the fact that heavy rain fell at Muriwai and Kopua early yesterday morning the roads are in firstclass conditions. Only temporary repairs were effected to the lines yesterday. Early this morning a gang of men will leave Gisborne and permanent work will be done to the broken lines. Another party will also leave Wairoa and will work as far as Nuhaka, Yesterday a big pine tree fell through the wires at Reay bridge, and all communication with the Waingake Valley was lost This work will be repaired early this morning. Numerous subscribers’ circuits which suffered damage will also be attended to to-day. Needless to say, with lines both north and south interrupted, the telegraph office staff had an anxious lime yesterday. The position looked' ;o bad at one stage that the wireless set was got in readiness to receive messages and the .."-perators were standing; in by readiness. Then communication was restored again, and the work slowly proceeded, all the time under difficulties. .