WHIRLWIND CUTS PATH THROUGH TOWN

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6944, 25 June 1929, Page 7

WHIRLWIND CUTS PATH THROUGH TOWN

MANY DWELLINGS UNROOFED AND GARAGES DEMOLISHED

Narrow Escapes From Serious Injury

Iron Whirled Aloft Like Scraps of Paper

Part of Palmerston North was swept by an extraordinary windstorm at 3.25 o’clock yesterday afternoon, when it accomplished in its comparatively narrow track and in the brief space of a minute, damage that is certain to run into thousands of pounds.

At that time, heavy rain clouds were banked up to the south and west hut a steady northerly was also blowing and an explanation of the occurrence is offered by the probability that these opposing conditions resulted in a pressure area in which the whirlwind was formed. A peculiar feature of the visitation was that the track of the tornado was nowhere more than two or three chains wide.

In addition to much property damage, not only in the town but in the country’heyond, where the storm apparently spent its force, the telephone service was disorganised, though the Power hoard received only one call and with the exception of a consumer in Boundary road, no interruption in the supply of current was reported.

Many queer pranks were played by the gale, which was accompanied by a fall of hail, thunder and lightning, and many people had providential escapes from death or serious injury. The whirlwind came in two short gusts of equal intensity and had passed before anyone could realise what was happening.

The first force of the tornado descended upon the borough in Takaro suburb, where a fine of wreckage and ruin - was swept from Boundary road across Chelwood and Shamrock streets to Burns Avenue and the corner of Lyndhurst and Main streets. The line of the hurricane passed diagonally across each street from the junction of Kairanga road and Fcat-herston street to the corner of Main and Lyndhurst streets. In its path roofs had been wrenched from houses, fences flattened, chimneys wrecked and broken iron and. timber strewed as by an invisible hand.

of the roof tree of Mr. G. M. Trott, whoso house suffered by far the greatest damage in Burns avenue. The wind caught a corner of the building, wrenched tho roof off the whole of one front room and wrecked the chimney. Mrs Trott was alone in the house and strangely enough, knew nothing of the damage that had been done to her home until apprised by her neighbours. Fortunately, tho ceiling of tho damaged room remained intact, although tho rafters above it were hurled right across the street. A portion of the flying iron tore down the telegraph lines in front of the dwelling and such was the force of the wind that a large section of the wreckage was swept high into tho air and over the top of Mr! W. J. Coulter's residence on the other side of the street. Had the mass of iron and timber struck .this building, another wreck would have been added to the toll of devastation. As it was, however, the very force of the hurricane saved Mr Coulter’s house and hurled the broken roof into a vacant section adjoining. The only damage done was by a flying batten which broke a fanlight and strewed the kitchen with splintered glass. Fortunately, this residence was unoccupied at the time of the visitation otherwise the shower of splintered glass might have caused injury to any persons in the kitchen'. Adjoining Mr. Coulter's house and almost opposite that of Mr. Trott, was the framework of a partially built residence on which the workmen were employed when the tornado descended. The whole skeleton of this building was warped and twisted by the force of tho gale and tho foreman builder, Mr. TV. S. Patten, who was working on tho scaffolding, was blown to the ground. It was very apparent that the framework of the building had been wrenched out of plumb and Mr. Patten expressedt he opinion that it would probably need entire reconstruction. Telephones Cut Off. The public service which suffered most through the storm was the telephone exchange. Falling branches and a haystack broke all the lines in Boundary road, opposite Mr. A. Sutherland’s residence, cutting out 40 Kairanga subscribers. About twenty ’phones in Linton street and Park road had their connections severed, while numerous subscribers in the localities affected were cut off. The Postal authorities received notico of .the breakages too late in the day to effect repairs or estimate the actual damago but the whole outside staff will be on the job from daylight to-day and it is expected that the service will be completely restored by noon. Motor Shed Over Fence.

After the first shock of surprise had passed; residents quickly organised and willing helpers set about t-ho task of reconstruction for their unfortunate neighbours. Workmen engaged in building a house in Burns avenue turntc their energies to the more immediate need, while a borough electrical inspector was soon on tho scene, making safe the live electric light wires, which were strewn around. ■ Women Badly Frightened. This being a residential area it happened that at the time the tornado swept down, 3.25, that in the majority of cases the occupants of the houses were womenfolk. In every instance, those spoken to were showing signs of severe mental stress and one ventured tho opinion, that earthquakes were to be preferred. While it is not yet possible to gather an idea of the actual damage done, it can safely bo estimated in that quarter of tho town that tho figure will be at least £IOOO, to which will be added the inevitable damage caused by the torrential rain on unroofed' premises. Despite tho extent of the materia] damago and the danger from flying wreckage, nobody in this area suffered any bodily injury. The First Casualties. Early in the course of the blast, , the two-storied residence of Mr. A. Needham in Kairanga road, was immediately bereft of half its roof. \Vith unassuaged fury, the wind continued on its errand of dcsitruction to Chelwood street, where in its passage it lifted the roof off Mr Ryan's residence at number 11. Trees and fences were the victims in the vacant sections as far as Shamrock street. Miss Sarah Avery, who resides at 16S Shamrock street had a most disconcerting .experience. Realising that something in the nature of a hurricane was .approaching, the young lady rushed to close a back window, when a gust burled a milk billy past her face. The residence next door, number 170, occupied by Mr. T. Smith, escaped with a few sheets of roofing iron buckled. It would seem that the wind, unsuccessful with the roof, sought to do damage lower down, for entering under the doors, it lifted the linos and caused minor damage. The home of Mrs Steer, on the opposite side of ! the road, wss the next to suffer in tho march of devastation. This case was tho worst in this district. The whole western roof, rafters and. all, was lifted bodily, while the part temporarily anchored by the chimney was Slid off the house onto the dividing fence, tho outer sheets were clutched up and carried well beyond the adjoining thoroughfare, Burns avenue, which was strewn with' debris.

Mrs. Myers, whoso home is at the corner of Lyndhurst and Main streets, alongside tho vacant section mentioned above, experienced a most trying time. When tho whirlwind arrived it was bearing with it roofing iron and debris from Burns street. The house was literally bombarded. Though the building itself escaped serious damage, a motor garage on tho eastern side and somewhat sheltered by the house was not so lucky. This structure, built of corrugated iron, weathered the blow until a wall was piorced by a piece of flying roofing. Tho wind, once inside the structure, transformed it iDto an airship and it sailed over the fence to be smashed out flat alongside the railway line. Furniture stored in the structure was wrecked. Engine Sheds Damaged.

Koof Carried 200 Yards,

In Burns avenue, a newly-construct-ed street between Shamrock and Lyndhvrst streets, the path of the tornado was marked by a trail of twisted iron, and splintered timbers. Two hundred yards away from the residence which it had originally sheltered, lay half the roof of a house which had been carried right across the street and into a vacant section \ fronting the railway line. This tangled mass of corrugated and broken Tafters formed part

Passing across Main street, tho tornado struck the railway engine sheds where sheets if iron woro torn from the roof and hurled across the yards on to the coal dumps. Workmen stato that the whole roof at one end of the sheds lifted and fell back into place. The tops of two tin chimneys disappeared into tho blue and had not been traced when the reporter arrived on the scene. The danger constituted by tho

flying wreckage was instanced by the fact that a piece of iron dislodged from the roof staved in a heavy wooden beam in the loading shutc situated in the middle of tho yards. Slight damago by flying debris was caused to the roof of Taylor and Co.’s furniture promises on tho corner of Lyndhurst and Main streets. Though the area on the town side of Pascal street appeared to have escaped the full force of the blast a, minor gust paid a visit to the Showgrounds, where Staig Bros, and their employees were engaged in taking down the various side-show-s they featured last week. The party had just commenced to dismantle the wooden silodrome, weighing six tons and fortunately had moved to another part of the grounds just minutes before the wind seized upon it. The structure was ripped asunder and damaged to tho extent of £l5O. A merry-go-round alongside, which could easily havo been caught up like an umbrella, was not affected in any WliV

Jammed in Door. Crossing the railway line to tho south of the engino shed, the whirlwind struck tho houses of Mr. B. Tillett, No. 70 Church street, wrenching the roof, and Mrs. C. T. Purcell, No. 68, where it demolished a chimney, wrenched the iron roof, carried away the iron off the verandah and blowing open the front door, threw furniture in the rooms into a confused mass. Mrs. Purcell was entering the back door when tUio stoim came and she got jammed by the door swinging closing. It took the combined efforts of three persons to release her. Coal dust from tho engine yaids was strewn throughout tho house. Tho wind passed on across Joseph street, where it demolished a cowshed of Mr. Mardon’s at No. 27 and a chimney of the dwelling occupied by Mrs. Pye, No. 23. From here the track of the storm lay across the intersection of Cook and Ferguson streets where tree's were levelled in the gardens of Mr. H. Cooper while neighbouring windows were blown in. Tho roof was taken clean off the washhouse of Mr. H. |Trevor’s, No. 257 Cook street, the iron being distributed in neighbouring gardens. Mr. G. Bruce, two doors down, .received the greater part of the consignment and the netting round his tennis court and tho back fence were flattened. Tho gate of Mr. H. Holiier’s place at 263 was wrenched from its : hinges and a window was smashed, while at the rear of tho house, a piece of roofing iron from Mr. Trovor’s found its way through tho door of a shed. Mattress under Lino.

Crossing into Worcester street, the 'storm struck the residence of Mrs. A. ■M. Lowndes, No. 23, where a heavy tile roof was lifted bodily up from its roundations and many of the tiles 'sent showering down. Mrs. Lowndes also had a terrifying adventure. The ( wind got in under tho roof and contusion reigned in tho rooms. Tho linojlcums were lifted off the floors and articles of furniture went spinning in all directions. A mattress was picked !up off a bed and was found on tho floor under the iino. Pictures were flung unceremoniously from walls and broken. A motor shed was left canted on one side, while fences and pergolas were completely levelled. In Hereford street it struck the back of No. 28, the residence of Mr. T. C. Beniell, where benzine drams were sent spinning around the yard. A shed next door was lifted over the fence. Minor damage was caused in the path of the gale, trees and gardens suffering mostly. The next area on which the tornado visited its destructive forco was in Batt street. Here, at Mr. Norman Wallace’s residence, number 21, a front window was blown outwards on to the garden. Had it blown inwards, a child lvho was watching tho approaching storm would probably havo boon injured. The motorshed was pulled away from its foundations. Tho adjoining residence of Mr. H. R. Thorburn, number 23, suffered more severely. The front window panes, both upstairs and downstairs, were smashed, the tile roof was holed in several places and the garage was completely blown down and a small tree lifted out by the roots. In addition, the greater part of the fence between this and Mr. Wallace's property was flattened out. Damago of a similar nature befel tho next house down the street, which is owned by Mrs. Judd and occupied by Mr. G. Grace, who had his car shed lifted, piles and all, a window blown out and the i garden largely destroyed. The wind just caught tho corner of Mr. D. I Fraser’s dwelling, number 27, straining la window from its hinges, then swept across to Mr. Geoff. Watchorn’s resiidence at the lower end of Linton street.' After levelling the fences and fruit trees and twisting the window sashor. in a shed and spraying the outer wall with mud from tho garden, tho tornado cut off a chimney at the 'corner of the house on bloc.

These experiences were sufficiently alarming, but tho destruction so far was nothing to that dono a few yards further on. Mr. D. Deidrich’s house at. GS Linton street suffered only the collapse of a chimney but a giant willow in the rear of tho section and a j couple of full-grown trees lining the street had large branches torn from [them and thrown some distance. Builder Buried) On the opposite sido of tho street, two young builders, K. Saxby and Albert Salt, were working on tho construction of a house being erected by Mr. D. G. Yule to the order of Miss Morton, who lives in the neighbouring house. The motor garage, in wood and iron, had been completed and the framework of the dwelling was complete when, in a second, the whole was levelled with the ground. Mr. Salt, working in the ! shed, was buried among the debris and sustained injuries to his back. Mr. : Saxby's escape, like that of many [others, was providential, as he was standing on the leeward side of the ! house. Several sheets if iron were ! blown 40 yards on to the Toofs of heuses facing Park road, some wai deposed 100 yards away in the pad-

docks on tho other side of tho thoroughfare and stray pieces found their way to Pitzherbert avenue. Every house in this vicinity had some record to show of the tornado’s passage. Adjoining the wreckage just described, the house at 75 Linton street, occupied by Mr. C. Short, had part of the iron roof blown off and the washhouse chimney demolished. Fences and a chimney at the corner houso of Mr. Jas. Little had to yield to tho force of tho gale and tho stable was also made uninhabitable. Mr. A. T. Pritchard, who lives at 213 Park read, will also have to replace several missing sheets of his iron roof. Air. Andrew Bailey, of No. 215, had a chimney decapitated and the roof blown in next door. Mr. Warren Newth returned home to discover that his motor shed if w r ood and iron was a shed no longer. Branches of full-grown trees opposite were snapped off and a haystack lost all semblance of its shape when the gale passed it. All round this corner, telegraph wires were lying in a tangled mass on road and footpath. West End Bub Lifted. The 3.20 bus from West End crossed the path of the tornado as it swopt through the grounds of tho Girls’ High School hostel in Collego street.

The driver, Mr. R. Hill, and five passengers had a nerve-wracking experience. According to an eyewitness, the bus was just into top gear after leaving the Hereford street stop, when the full force of the wind caught the rear of tho vehicle and lifted it off the road, at the same time swinging it to the right. Fortunately the bus then recovered its equilibrium. Girls’ High School Damaged.

The Girls' High school caught the full force of the wind, tiles being lifted olf the roof and strewn on tho front lawn, while windows were smashed and trees uprooted. Naturally the suddenness of tho visitation caused alarm amongst the pupils. There were no casualties, but several girls fainted. The sheets of iron from Linton streetdeposited in Fitzhcrbert avenue bent up like hairpins when they struck the trees growing in the street. After leaving Fitzhcrbert avenue, the storm crossed the open spaces adjacent to To Awe Awe and Jickcll streets, whoro macrocarpas were uprooted or huge branches broken off. It continued on across the golf links and river to Aokautere and up the Pnhiatua track, narrowly missing the dwelling of Mr. Bond but taking the roof off the woolshed adjacent and uprooting macrocarpas that had stood the winds of 30 or 40 years. On Mr. Field’s property and that of Sir. J. Knight, trees were uprooted while the end was torn out of a two-storied slice! belonging to Mr. Oxnam and the building was rocked so badly that it looks as if it might topple over at any minute. Mrs. Oxnam records a peculiar occurrence. A bundle of toi toi flowers standing near the fireplace was suddenly sucked up the chimney by the draught and disappeared in the wind, except one which got caught on the wireless aerial. Sir. Oxnam's son, returning homo from school, was caught in the whirlwind ancl hurled into a nearby drain. He suffered bruises and cuts to the knee and shock. Tbc effects of the blast higher up the Pnhiatua track are not known, as telephone communication is cut off, apparently as a result of the tornado.