WHIRLWIND HAVOC

Grey River Argus, 5 December 1938, Page 7

WHIRLWIND HAVOC

At Ashburton the arcade partly wrecked. ASHBURTON, December 3. A whirlwind at 3 o'clock this afternoon caused damage in the business

area of the town. Roofing iron from the Arcade was hurled two or three hundred feet into the air some being carried half el mile away. Sections of the roof twenty feet square were torn off. . v \ One roof consisting of sixteen sheets of corrugated iron was lifted from the Arcade and forced through the root of Bailey’s implement store in Tancred Street. A large plate glass window was torn out of the Arcade and smashed on the path. There wa s a similar disturbance in another portion of th? town, where minor damage was caused. I No person was injured, but at the height of the wind people had to rush from the streets for shelter. There I were narrow escapes. ’ I For a time the sky was almost black with dust, roof-iron. ■ rubbish, leaves and twigs. I Several sheets of roof iron, torn i from buildings in the main street, crashed in Moore Street, which is at right angles to the main thoroughfare.