CITY WRECKED BY HURRICANE

Otago Witness, Issue 4057, 15 December 1931, Page 67

CITY WRECKED BY HURRICANE

HOUSES & HOSPITAL COLLAPSE

BABIES SAVED BY NURSES

WELLINGTON (New Zealand), Tuesday. GREAT damage was caused at Dunedin, the chief city -of the South Island, this morning by a hurricane.

Houses, a hospital and two racecourse grandstands were.wrecked, thousands of trees were uprooted, and there is not an unbroken shop window in the city. The harbour also suffered an ! oil tanker which broke from her moorings carrying a large section, of the wharf with her. _ . .. i Many people have received minor h> juries, but no loss of life has been reported. The wrecked hospital vas tne Karitane.baby institution, and the Htue patients were saved by the prompt ana courageous action of the nurses. .SAVED BY SECONDS At'the height of the storm the nurses In charge of the babies in the sunporch heard the framework creaking and rushed the infants inside. A few seconds later the whole verandah crashed down. Shortly afterwards the entire roof i of the hospital was lifted off, and one I section, 50ft. tong and 10ft. wide, i soared high into the air like a piece I of paper, passed over a row of tall trees, and crashed down on the roadway 200 yards away. None- of the children was injured. The oil tanker, Vacuolin, which broke from her moorings was later anchored i safely- in the harbour.—Reuter, The above is an exact reproduction of a cable message published in a London daily paper, the News-Chronicle, of October 21. Residents of Dunedin who are receiving letters from abroad, making anxious inquiries concerning their safety, will now understand the cause of the apprehension on the part of their friends.