SEA FRONT SWEPT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22333, 3 February 1936, Page 10

SEA FRONT SWEPT

CITY TO ST. HELIERS SLIPS FALL ON ROADWAY PRIVATE PROPERTY SUFFERS MANY ESCAPES FROM INJURY Extensive damage to property and many narrow escapes from serious injury occurred along the Waterfront .Road when the storm was at its highest ou Saturday night and yesterday morning. Launches and dinghies wore battered against the rocks, slips fell on the roadway and over private property, houses wero partially unroofed and trees were torn up. Straggling linos of driftwood in front of shops at Mission Bay, Kohimarama and St. Holier?, far beyond the stone protecting walls, shewed where the waves had encroached when the tide was full between two and three o'clock yesterday morning. , At Orakei, a number of people were amazed to see a dinghy, caught in a. fierce gust of wind, being bowled for about 50 yards along the beach. Road Washed by Spray High showers of spray crashed over the road all yesterday morning near the base of the Orakei cattle wharf. On the land side of the road the cliffs were gouged out by minor slips. Workmen were early 011 the scene clearing the mud and away. ... How strong was the wind m this locality, even when the gale had abated somewhat, was demonstrated by several amazing scenes witnessed _ at about one o'clock. Seven or eight people, men and women, wore lying on the footpath for fear of being blown against the sea wall, or possibly over it. To walk into the wind was practically impossible. The wreckage of one A or two small craft was strewn on the beach at Mission Bay. On the foreshore a giant pine tree had crashed down, and further back were many evidences of the storm. Camp Sites Forsaken , Much of the equipment at the amusement park had been badly buffeted, and other portions had been dismantled by the owners, and lashed down. The camp-site had been forsaken. There had been about 10 or 12 parties under canvas on Saturday niglvt, but when the rain began to pour down and the high wind rose early yesterday morning, a hurried evacuation was carried out. Here, as at Kohimarama and St. Heliers, the sea when the tido was at its highest, swept over the stone protecting wall and flooded the roadway. Narrow escapes from injury were experienced by a group of. men who wore standing outside the Pig and Whistlo Road-house early in the afternoon. Their attention had been focussed on a small boy who had been bowled oyer by a gust of wind on the opposite side of the road when through the air within a few feet of their heads hurtled a huge pieco of iron, about sft. long, which had formed part of the merry-go-round in the adjacent section. The iron was blown across the road like a piece of paper and after missing a motor-car by inches, came to rest against the kerbing.^ New Houses Damaged Part of the framework of two houses under construction in Ronaki Road, Mission Bay, was blown down. The lower structure of one, although still standing, was extensively damaged, being lifted off its foundations. Considerable damage also occurred to several houses on the Waterfront Road approaching Kohimarama. A huge amount of earth and vegetation broke away from the property of the Mayor, Mr. Ernest Davis, at the top of the cliff and much of it banked up against the back of Mr, R-, Clarke's two-storey residence. Widows were broken and liquid mud ran through the house and out on to the front lawn. Another slip occurred in Kohimarama Road near by. A number of trees were uprooted and tiles were torn from the roofs of several houses, but otherwise the damage in this suburb was not extensive. Trees also suffered at St. Heliers, a number of fine specimens being uprooted in the reserve.

YACHTSMAN INJURED

CRUSHED AGAINST WALL SEAS AT DEVONPORT Struggling desperately to keep his 28ft. launch Ivanhoe from being completely wrecked on the rocks on the Marine Parade near the clubhouse of the Devonport Yacht Club about one o'clock yesterday morning, Mr. V. Pitt, of Cambridge Terrace, Devonport, was 'crushed and suffered internal injuries. Learning that his boat had broken adrift and washed ashore in the heavy seas Mr. Pitt attempted to place some fenders between the launch and a concrete wall against which it was being dashed. Mr. Pitt accidently slipped and the boat, lifted bodily by a wave, crushed him against the wall. With difficulty he was pulled to safety and later in the morning was taken to a private hospital. His condition is satisfactory. The launch was badly holed, but with the assistance of gear used for hauling pleasure craft to their winter quarters she was hauled to safety. During the afternoon yesterday, large parties of yachtsmen were continually engaged in salvage work on the Devonport foreshore. One craft, the Cynara, broke away from her moorings and went aground on a little patch of sand at the western corner of the Devonport Wharf." Hawsers were made fast and the yacht kept in position until the tide receded. In the early hours of the morning when the easterly wind was raging, the seas were breaking completely ovor the outer portion of Devonport Wharf, while the Marine Square was submerged to a depth of several feet. Pleasure craft in the bays of Isorthcote came in for a severe battering. During the easterly, jz;alo on Saturday night, tho 20ft, cruising yacht, Joyce, owned by Mr. V. J. Lidgard, was driven under the (•lift' at Sulphur Beach and a holo was stove in tho side and tho rudder carried av/av. The keel yacht Vagabond, owned by Messrs. Tabatcau Bros., blew across Shoal Bay from Bayswater to the Goldhole Beach on the eastern side of Northcote Point, but was secured undamaged and towed back.

When tho wind veered round to tho south-west yesterday morninp, tho mullet boat Blue Streak was blown right across tho harbour from Shelly Beach at Ponsonby into Little Shoal Bay, and seemed certain to bo destroyed. However, eight Northcoto yachtsmen went to tho rescue and prevented tho boat from going ashore. Tho towboat Sambo arrived shortly after noon to take the Blue Streak back to Auckland, but tho strong wind and tide carried tho launch aground. Both vessels wore anchored to meet tho incoming tide and sheltered during tho afternoon. Minor damage was suffered by several other largo pleasure craft, masts being lost, while a number of dinghies wore smashed to pieces on the rocks. The yacht Victory, owned by Mr. H. J. 0. George, had her sails torn at her moorings.