Sydney Swept By Short-lived But Destructive Gale

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26915, 29 October 1948, Page 5

Sydney Swept By Short-lived But Destructive Gale

Rec. 11 o.m. SYDNEY, Oct. 28. A terrific gale reaching 78 miles an hour accompanied by torrential rain, and in seme places hail, struck Sydney without warning late this afternoon and did heavy damage in the city and suburbs. Sweeping in suddenly from the west, the gale unroofed dozens of houses and other buildings, broke an aeroplane in half, dragged liners and small craft from harbour moorings, uprooted hundreds of trees, and dislocated electricity and telephone systems. The blast lasted only about live minutes but it did thousands of pounds worth of damage.

During the brief storm these things hapepened. First, at Kingsford Smith Airport, a small privately-owned plane was lifted into the air and broken in two and two- other planes were damaged; secondly, four overseas freighters broke adrift from their moorings and an old paddle steamer ran wild. Tugs eventually secured them all. Many small craft were swept ashore in harbour bays; thirdly, houses were unroofed in a number of suburbs and the interiors and occupants w£re exposed to blinding rain. Heavy damage was caused in the suburb of Tempe where big hailstones crashed through roofs. Overhead tram wires, and electricity and telephone lines crashed in a number of suburbs and traffic had to be diverted. The gale caused a great amount of minor damage such as broken shop windows, fences blown down, and shop awnings ripped off. So heavy was the accompanying ram in the city that motor and tram traffic was halted, windscreen wipers being useless in the downpour. Thousands of summer-clad shoppers were caught in unsheltered parts of the city and suburbs and were drenched in a few seconds. Many pedestrians were blown over.