AWAPUNI RACECOURSE DEVASTATED.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 4 February 1936, Page 7

AWAPUNI RACECOURSE DEVASTATED.

SCENE OF DESOLATION BEGGARS 5 description. (Special to “Chronicle”). PALMERSTON N., Last Night. Recognised as one of the snow places of New Zealand, let alone Palmerston North and district, the beautiful Awapuni racecourse is now a place of chaos. Gone are the roofs of the main and outside stands; other buildings have been bashed into matchwood; trees have been uprooted everywhere, and those '.that survived the storm nave been stripped of foliage as if by a gigantic hand. The flying iron and timber has ripped great scars in the velvety lawns and the glorious gardens which are so proudly cared for have been devastated. * There is debris everywhere and the scene beggars description. Right from the main gates to beyond the training buildings the \nagnificent drive —the brightest jewel in Awapuni’s crown —is a scene of m describable desolation, and it is hard to realise that so much damage could have been accomplished in such a short time.

At the gates leading from the car enclosure to the saddling paddock there is a jumbled mass of ironwork and timber, most of it being from the roof of the outer stand. The roof of the stalls has gone, while everywhere is evidence of the damage done to the buildings and other appointments. The drive adjoining the car enclosure is covered feet deep 5 matchwood; the saddling paddock is just crowded with fallen trees, and sheetiron is lying about all over the place. It is not difficult to imagine what this

urea must have been like during the height of the storm. Root's were being torn away in all directions and the air must have been full of hurtling timber, iron and branches. The roof of the outside stand must have been wrenched clear in one piece. Part of it wrecked a portion of the outer to talisator after travelling 50 yards through the air. Another part landed on the main totalisator building, and there it still remains. This brick structure has suffered little damage except that tiles have been broken and windows blown in. The recentlyerected stewards' stand appears to have escaped major damage, but glass strewn all over the adjacent lawns is evidence that the building has not escaped scot free.

Next is the great main stand, which, shorn of its roof, now resembles part of an opemair stadium. The hurricane appears to have caught this building with its maximum force, for the immense roof was flicked oil' so cleanly that it might have been done with a gigantic knife. The roof must have been taken up with terrific force, for it travelled over one hundred yards before it crashed to rest in the lagoon beyond the drive. In transit it cleanly ■sheared the tops oil" the higher trees and in dipping towards the lagoon- it flattened .some big trees which happened to be in the line of flight. Beyond the main stand the damage is not on such a comprehensive scale, and the tea kiosk appears to be hltle the worse for the storm. Further on are uprooted trees, but the chaos along the drive behind the lawn buildings is beyond description. The roadway is a mass of mangled trees and it is difficult to work a way through. Alongside the drive are stripped stumps around which, have been wrapped sheet iron and spouting wrenched from adjacent buildings. The gardens have been ruined in all directions and tre glorious climbing ruses are stripped «"-f every vestige of foliage. The fence from the members' car entrance to the main gate has been flattened, excep- , for small sections, and anything in the nature of a railway building has just ceased to exist. It is not possible yet to ascertain the extent of the damage done at Awapuni, but one conservative estimate places it at between £uooo and £SOOO

Awapuni was one of the chief centres of interest yesterday, many hundreds of people going to see .the damage that had been done. The opinion of the majority of people who have visited the racecourse is that the damage there is greater than in any other part of the area swept by the storm. One thing is certain, however, and that is that it would have been suicidal to have remained anywhere in the grounds during the most violen* period of the hurricane.

Arapuni Interrupted

HAMILTON, Last Night

An interruption to the Arapuni transmission lines caused flood waters to enter the shaft where two new units were boing constructed. The men remedied the trouble this morning. The interruption affected the Auckland but not the .South Auckland and Thames districts.