SUDDEN STORM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22025, 4 February 1935, Page 8

SUDDEN STORM

WAIKATO WHIRLWIND an alarming experience SEVERAL BUILDINGS WRECKED TORRENTIAL FALL OF RAIN [by telegeaph —own correspondent] HAMILTON, Sunday An area of farm land near the Karapiro dairy factory, about six miles south of Cam bridge, was struck by a whirlwind of exceptional severity at three o'clock yesterday afternoon and considerable dams.ge was done to farms in the neighbourhood. Peals of thunder and flashes of lightning gave warning of the coming storm. Heavy black 'clouds gathered in south-east and a terrific wind followed, and became centred in the form of a j whirlwind in the Whitehall Koad Valley. The wind, which was accompanied by an ominous sound, swept* over the farms of Messrs. J. W. Ganley, T. A. Frost, P. C. Koeley, J. Montgomery and W. Brewer. Mr. F. P. Ganley 'was in the fields when tfce whirlwind approached. He saw a haystack shaken by -the force of the wind, and its top lifted and scattered about the paddock. He tried to make his way toward the stack, but he was blown backward. Terrified Residents The occupants of Mr. J. W. Ganley's house were terror-stricken and expected the building to collapse. The walls and roof oi: the garage were torn off and the iron deposited #i chain away. Branches of a large willow tree were stripped and, on the opposite side of the road, the limbs of a white wattle tree near Mr. Frost's home were broken. The branches weighed many tons and one crashed on to the washhouse, completely wrecking the building. Another branch scraped the side of the dwelling, but did no damage. A large pinu» im,ignis tree on the farm was broken off at the base and a dozen other trees had their branches torn off. Sheet iron was wrenched from haystacks on neighbouring farms, and was carried some distance, while an implement shed on Mr. Montgomery's farm was ccmfiete'ly wrecked. Deluge of Rain The wind blew with hurricane force for half-an-liour, and then rain fell in torrents. The deluge was so heavy that it was impossible to see more than a dozen paces from Mr. Ganley's house. Large hailstones accompanied the rain, and made a terrifying noise on the roofs of the houses. There were many narrow escapes from injury, but no stock was lost. Elderly settlers were at a loss for words to describe the phenomenon through which they had passed, but said the atmosphere was uncanny and that they had never before experienced anything like it. It is estimated that over three inches of rain fell within an hour.