VIVID LIGHTNING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22191, 19 August 1935, Page 10

VIVID LIGHTNING

STORMS AT WEEK-END POWER INTERRUPTION SUPPLY AT PUKEKOHE INTERVAL OF DARKNESS An exceptionally severe thunderstorm occurred over the city and southern portions of the Auckland Province last evening as the culmination of a weekend of squally westerly weather. A thunderclap which struck the city shortly before 7.30 o'clock was so pronounced that windows of buildings rattled and a vivid flash of bluish lightning which preceded it fused the electric lights of a residence at Hanene Street, St. Heliors. However, no other damage in the city was reported. Lightning striking tho wires caused a circuit breaker to trip at tho Frankton Power Board's! depot at Pukekoho at 7.44 p.m., cutting off light and power from the circuit supplying Pukekoho town and vicinity for six minutes. On this occasion there were two very vivid Hashes of lightning, followod by reverberating peata of thunder, to the south-east of Pukekohe. They wero particularly loud at Mercer. A westerly gale continued throughout the week-end, accompanied by heavy rain squalls with occasional sunshine. Shipping was buffeted by high seas. The Manukau bar has been unworkable since Friday, but tho port of Onehunga has been empty and shipping has, therefore, not been affected. Conditions wero so unpleasant that comparatively few people could be tempted out of doors. However, some motorists took advantage of brief spells of sunshine to make short excursions in the city. The rainfall for: the 48 hours ended midnight was 0.79 in. Rain fell every day last week, and tho total for the year is now 2.(iyin. more than the average yearly foil during the past 79 years. With * the exception of January and May e.ich month this year has been very wet and the rainfall has been above the average. Last month's fall of lO.oSin. was a record for July, and tho February rainfall of 9.G2in. was 6.58 in. above the average for that month. The wettest year on record was 1917, the total rainfall being 73.70 in. Two other • very wet years were 1916 and 1924, the total falls being 67.10 in. and 66.66 in. respectively. CHIMNEY WRECKED "TERRIFIC EXPLOSION w FAMILY'S SEVERE FRIGHT [by telegraph OWN correspondent] WELLINGTON, Sunday A terrifying experience occurred to a family in Ngaio when lightning struck a double chimney which served the sitting room of their house as well as the kitchen range, and shattered it. Bricks and pieces of chimney-pot were scattered all over the section, and some fell down the chimney into the sitting room fire. Nobody was injured. The house is owned by Mr. H. L. Ryan, who wa3 absent at the time, but four women and two children were sitting round tho fire in the evening. Mrs. A. Cameron, a sister of Mr. Ryan, who waii one of those in the room, said that suddenly there was a terrific explosion and the house shook as if an earthquake had occurred. The house was thrown into darkness and bricks rained down tho chimney and soot and embers were scattered among those sitting near the fire. " We did net know what on earth had happened," said Mrs. Cameron " The noise was deafening, and for a moment we wera waiting for something flse to happen. After putting out the fire \ve lost no time in getting outside After things had settled down we had to change most of our clothes, as they were filthy with soot." The chimney was practically levelled to the roof. The house is set well back from the front gate, and pieces of nhimney-pot w£?re found on the fence bordering the road and on the other nide and at the back of the house. The fireplace in the sitting room was damaged and u large piece of protecting iron above the range in the kitchen was disilodged. Telephones in the vicinity were deranged and electric light bulbs that were switched on in other houses were burned out. A; the same time the fuse in the electric sub-station serving the suburb blew out and disorganised its power supply, fiome lights going out and some going dim until the trouble was rectified. COAST BATTERED TARAMAKI STORMS HIGH TIDES ERODE BEACHES [by telegraph —OWN correspondent] NEW PLYMOUTH, Sunday Extraordinarily high tides piled up by driving westerly winds have been experienced on the Taranaki coast through the week-end. Although no serious damage was caused, the storm, especially on the sea front, has left its mark in many places. The tides at New Plymouth were the highest for many years, which was strange, seeing that the spring tide period had passed. Huge rollers raced up the beaches, biting deeply into the sandhills, which had not been touched for years, and leaving the beaches littered with debris. In some places where sandhills previously sloped gently down to high-water mark there are now miniature cliffs. Two rowboats broke adrift from their moorings and were smashed on the recks. A diver's boat belonging to the harbour boar 3 . was swamped at its moorings. The coastal vessel Totara has been anchoreci for two days within the shelter of the harbour, unable to face the huge seas driving in from the west beyond the shelter of tho breakwater and the Hauturu is also delayed. Several of the tides in the week-end have been so high that tho waves surrounded tho palladium at Ngamotu Beach, near the port. The building suffered no damage. The municipal baths, situated on a promontory off Kawaroa Park, near the town, received tho full force of the gale. The waves made a breach in the stone protecting wall and flooded the baths buildings aud the caretaker's lodgings Extensive erosion of sand occurred at the East End reserve. and tho Fitzroy and Waiwakaiho Beaches and further portions of the cliff-face at Woolcombe Terrace have collapsed through having been undermined by tho waves. The railway yards have been bathed in spray at every high tide. The weather moderated to-day, but the wind wan still fairly strong and the sea high. At the height of the gale on Saturday a number of wireless masts was blown down and trees and parks and garden.- suffered. Another whirlwind visited the Bell Block district on Friday night, three farm shgda and a haystack being damaged by a terrific gust of wind that ! persisted for a quarter of an hour. It was preceded by a startling thunderclap and 4 vivid flash of lightning..