STRUCK BY TORNADO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20902, 18 June 1931, Page 13

STRUCK BY TORNADO.

HAVOC IN ADELAIDE.

MANY BUILDINGS UNROOFED.

ROW OF HOUSES WRECKED.

•A- fierce tornado struck North Adelaide shortly after 11 o'clock last Thursday morning, and damaged many homes aiid buildings to the extent of several thousand pounds. " Big trees were uprooted, and one row of,' seven houses in North Adelaide was almost demolished. The Institution for the Blind was unroofed, and the children's hospital was' narrowly missed. The verandah of a shop afc North Adelaide was lifted bodily and smashed against electric cables, catapulting through the air-in .a mass of flames. Inmates of'the Blind Institution were in an unfortunate position. They could hear crashing around them, but could see nothing.. The whole building shook and there was a deafening roar of tearing iron.- Those- indoors were advised to stay .where- they were to avoid being struck by flying iron.

Milford guest home in North Adelaide, which- has stood for.'62 • years, had three rooms ■ unroofed, and rain poured into the-' house. : The whole of the roof of the home of Mrs. -Lawrence- Trott- was carried away, and rooms were flooded. Children who were playing on the verandah had a narrow escape. Suction of the Tornado. In the home., of Mr. C. G. Coles,' a neighbour of Mrs. Trott, M rs -'Coles heard the roar, of the advancing tornado, and, running for her children, pulled them into the kitchen just as the verandah wall collapsediand the roof and galvanised iron fence, were whirled over the house into the park. A peculiar feature of the storm was its sharply-defined track. Houses lying on either side of those badly damaged escaped. Mrs. E. Jolley, one of the occupants of houses in the ruined section, tried to open the door of her house to rush out, but so strong- was the suction of the tcrnado that the door held fast and the handle came off in her hand. Suddenly the roof and part of the ceiling were carried away. Windows were torn from their frames. Misses 'Read, who live next door, heard a crash like thunder, and part of the wall-and roof of the kitchen fell in.

The residence of Mr. P. Lamphee received .-the full force of the storm. The hedge and fence were strewn over the garden, <and chimneys fell through the tiled roof. : Woman's Narrow Escape. Three-quarters of the roof of the bottling shed of the Adelaide Wine and Spirit Company, of! Hackney, was lifted, and part of the western wall was wrecked. Damage is estimated at £IOOO. A narrow escape from injury was experienced by Mrs. J. Fax, who lives with her daughter, Mrs. 31. C. Geddes. Mr. Fax said' he ■ could hear big trees in the adjoining park snapping under the pressure of the wind. Mrs. Fax was making her bed when the'chimney and a pile of bricks crashed through the ceiling, missing her- by inches. Three chimneys were blown down on this house, but no furniture was damaged. Sweeping through Hackney, the storm left a trail of broken fences, smashed windows,. and dismantled chimneys, until it reached Maylands, .where a roof measuring 80 feet by 50-feet was torn from the tram depot' and, blown 200 feet into the air, sailing 100 yards into the street, where the timbers trailing behind struck an electric-light post and then crashed on to the. roof of Mr. W. H. Kenneally's house. The verandah and chimney and some brickwork were carried away. "Like a.Gigantic runnel."

An eye-witness at. the Teachers' Training College ■ said that he saw from his window a black, cloud approaching half-a-mile away, like a gigantic funnel. The funnel must have been 100 yards, in diameter. It. tapered as it reached the earth, swirling, dipping, and swaying as it raced along. It. seemed to travel at the rate of 100 miles an hour. Sheets of tin and parts offences were thrown into the air as if they were matches. A man was leading a horse and cart out into the - street when the storm caught him and overturned the horse and cart. As he tried to run inside, he was picked up by the wind, carried across the footpath and gutter/ and dumped into a pool of water on the road.