SEVERE AT WELLINGTON

Grey River Argus, 4 May 1936, Page 5

SEVERE AT WELLINGTON

88 m.p.h. Reached WELLINGTON HOSPITAL DAMAGED. WELLINGTON. Alay 2. Widespread damage to telephone and telegraph circuits in the Noith Island was caused by last night’s storm, principally through trees tailing across the lines. The first break occurred at llnli'ombe nt 11.30 p.m., and subsequently services were disrupted between ' Wanganui and New Plymouth, New Plymouth and Awakino, Palmeits’ton North and Waipukurau, Waipukuilau and Napier, Napier and Taupo, Gisborne ami Auckland, and at 11.30 this morning Wellington was still unable io reach Auckland through any of the three channels. Il' wjas hoped, however, to resume communications by noon. Urgent traffic and cables were handled by radio,, but ’ limited facilities caused much delay. AVELLINGTON, Alay 2 A severe s torm ife being experienced at Wellington. It is reported that the Hutt' Road is blocked by seia water in the vicinity of Ngahauranga, where hundreds of motor cars are held up and the railway service is disrupted. At Lyall Bay t'he water is washing away Queen's Drive, wher e a portion of the road has disappeared. The new work at Rongotai Aerodrome is also being -washed inway. At Island Bay. a cottage in Aliln e Terrace has lost its roof, and has been badly damaged bv the gale. The roof has damaged the roofs and windows of two houses in the street below. LAUNCHES IN DANGER. Fishermen at Island Bay report th<‘ southerly to be the .worst they have ever known. Boats in the normally •%ife anchorage ! be-tjwoeu the island and t-h e shore are i'n danger. One launch has been cast up on the shore ami several are adrifl. Captain Holm, of flic Holm Shipping Company, reports (lid the company’s vessels aie remaining m p'" 1 -

or have taken shelter, but. there is no delinile news in all cases. RAIL SERVICE STOPPED. Owing to the stoppage of railway traffic on the Hutt line, hundreds ol Hutt Y r alle v residents were delayed in netting home from noon onwards, m some eases by. as much as two hoursThey proceeded by priitile l ' ,lls an< imlivuy 'buses. '1 he road traffic was not at first interrupted by the sl,orm. but -there was some congestion, A chimney collapsed ami crashed through the roof into an upstairs ward at the Wellington Hospital. One woman patient- was slightly injured, but fortunately most of the brickwork fell between the beds. It 'was found necessmy 10 remove the palient s to teinpormy accommodation elsewhere. Telegraphic cuinniuiiiealiun between Wellington and Auckland was restfired at- noon,, when t-en ehannels weie commissioned, mid iiK "'las expected that all services would be normal by about 3 o'clock. The Wellington district- lines were practically undamaged. the main trouble being ijimlined to’ districts north of Palmerston North. WELLINGTON, May 3. Considering its extent as well (is its force, one of the wost southerly storms ever experienced swept ovei Wellington on Saturday. Tempera tures dro]>)ied, and gales of extremely hffih velocity were recorded at mmiy places. . Thc principal damage in Wellington was (he wreck of a . fishing 1-minch at Island Bay, mid the unroofing of a house in the same suburb. Assisted by a high tide at midday, the waves swept over th e foreshore roads 'i.n exposed places., holding up ,raffle 'al' Point Howard for several hours, and making roads dangerous at other ]ioints. Ferry mid bus services to Eastbourne wore suspemled. Heavy -seas 'breaking over the sen wall between Ngahurimiga ami Petone stopped on, Saturday afternoon the rail -lovmes the Hutf Valley. A brick’chimney at the Wellington Public Hospital crashed through the roof of" a ward and broke a pipe ol the s-te.im heating _system, patiemhuvin,r to be removed to another ward. Three were struck bv .lalling debris, but were not seriously hurt..

The air services across Cook Strait weir cancelled, tmd at one place on th-' Ci rough service lost time between I' In im"aud Chris’church. having t.. turn back to Blenheim from ne:u Kn Mcouru. Sports fixtures were curtailed con siderably in Wellington.

The storm interfered with shipping, the Maori not' leaving Wellington for r.vttelton until 11 n'clue.k on Saturday night, instead of at 7.15. anil 'njjc departure of I'he; M a tri.ng i tor Nelson was delayed from Saturday ii’glit until midnight. ihi s night. The anenometer chart at the Bongotai Aerodrome 'recorded maximum gusts of $8.5 linles and 87 miles an hour.