STRUCK BY HURRICANE

Otago Witness, Issue 3889, 25 September 1928, Page 52

STRUCK BY HURRICANE

POVERTY BAY TOWNSHIPS. GREAT DAMAGE TO PROPERTY. GISBORNE, September 22. In Poverty Bay dawn was ushered in to-day by a strong wind which in a few hours increased to a gale of hurricane force, the climax being reached about 9 o’clock. The wind then eased down until at noon it had dropped considerably, and towards evening the wind again commenced to spring up. During the eight or nine hours that the gale raged this morning considerable damage was done in many directions. Telephone and telegraph communication were blocked for some hours, Gisborne being practically isolated. The wires were down between Wairoa and Napier on the south line and at Matawai on the north line; but early in the afternoon communication was restored.

Two country townships suffered severely, Whatatutu and Ruatoria. Whatatutu is inland about 28 miles north of Gisborne, and the gale experienced there was the worst in the memory of living settlers. The wind came rushing down the valley with terrific force, and the gale reached its height about 9 o’clock. Amongst the first buildings to be affected was the two-storey hotel, the front verandah of which broke away with a crash, portions being carried over the roof and into the backyard. The alarmed residents heard the noise, but were too busy protecting their own property to render much assistance. The hurricane continued, and soon the large- blacksmith's shop, which was unoccupied, jyas demolished. Several houses had their roofs blown completely off, and chimneys were brought down in all directions. Flying timber and sheets of iron were in some cases carried for miles. A portion of the roof of the large store was blown off, and the staff hurriedly threw ropes over the remaining portion to secure it. The shelter at the school was completely wrecked, and several small buildings were blown down and demolished.

Numerous exciting incidents occurred during the gale, and several narrow escapes were recorded. In one case a woman, who had been seriously ill, was removed form her home just a few minutes before the roof under which she had sheltered was carried away. From Whatatutu a large number of private telephone lines extend in all directions, and these are now down, the back country beyond Whatatutu being completely isolated. Motor cars in the township and its vicinity presented an unusual sight, numerous hoods being blown off.

Reports of the damage in the interior cannot be ascertained, but it is reported that the woolshed at Mr Duncan Campbell’s Mangamaia station was partly wrecked. Equal damage was done at Ruatoria, 82 miles north of Gisborne, on the East Coast. Here the balcony of the hotel was completely demolished, and several windows were broken and chimneys brought down. A building under construction was blown down, and the flying timber crashed on to the telephone wires, putting the service out of action. On Mr J. Reedy's property a three-roomed whare was at the time when the gale reached the height of its fury occupied by two men, one of whom was shaving. The wind caught the whare. and rolled it over and over for fully 100 yards with both men inside the building, which was finally demolished. The two men were badly bruised, and suffered from severe shock, but are not seriously hurt. The roof of the shelter shed at the school was blown off, and the same fate befel a large cottage next to the hotel. Windows were blown in in all directions. At Jerusalem the roof of the church was blown off, and the roof of a smali house was removed bodily. Another house was in the course of erection, with all the walls up. In an instant these were laid flat on the ground, the timber flying in all directions.

Between Ruatoria and Tokomaru Bay motor traffic is impeded by large trees which have been blown down across the roads, and at the height of the gale many of the drivers took the precaution to bind ropes over the tops of their cars. No damage is reported in Gisborne beyond several fences and shop signs being brought down by the wind and some small windows of houses in positions exposed to the gale being blown in. On the Poverty Bay flats several maize cribs were overturned, but fortunatley were empty, t-’c owners having shelled their crops. . In one case a settler found the top of his neighbour's crib in his backyard.