WORST WITHIN LIVING MEMORY

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12765, 2 October 1934, Page 5

WORST WITHIN LIVING MEMORY

WAIRARAPA BATTERED BY 100 MILE GALE TRAIL OF DESOLATION, HOUSES AND SHOPS UNROOFED COMPLETE DISLOCATION OF POWER AND TELEPHONE SERVICES. L ENORMOUS DAMAGE IN MASTERTON AND CARTERTON. DESTRUCTION FA Ft WORSE THAN A MAJOR EARTHQUAKE. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. WELLINGTON, Last Night. Seriously battered by tlie worst gale within living memory a wide expanse of the central portion of the. Wairarapa district is the scene to-day of much desolation and damage, the actual extent of which at present cannot be estimated. At times the wind raged with hurricane force, leaving a track of devastation. Masterton and Carterton seem to have received the full fury of the visitation, but complete dislocation of communication of both telephone and telegraph has made it difficult to glean much accurate information in regard to outlying districts. Rail traffic, both north and south, was disrupted as a result of large trees falling across the permanent track. Road traffic suffered in the same way.

The wind reached gale force in the early hours of this morning and gradually increased in velocity, reaching the climax of its fury between 8 and lO o’clock, during which period much serious damage wa« wrought. The position was very much aggravated by heavy driving rain. FLYING OBSTACLES. • When storm was at its height it was unsafe tc venture out of doors for fear of being injured by hying glass, corrugated iron, woodwork and other wreckage. There were comparatively few houses in the town of Masterton not affected. In many cases, dwellings were unroofed and in consequence of the heavy rain the furniture was badly damaged. Oarages and other outbuildings were in some cases lifted bodily into the air and smashto matchwood. Fences were levelled in all parts o£ the town and in Queen street, the main shopping area, plate-glass windows have been blown in in several shops and signboards and hoardings have in many cases been dislodged. BUSINESS AT STANDSTILL. Business in Masteri on was practi"cally at a standstill to-day. Although it is at present impossible to ascertain the extent of the damage, many considered it greater than the damage caused by the earthquake oil March 5 and will run into thousands of pounds. » telephone and electric ] > eewer lines down in all parts of the town and district, linesmen were faced with a gigantic task. It will be a day or two before electric power is reconnected in some quarters and, in consequence, early this afternoon candles were unprocurable in town. TRAINS DISRUPTED. The railway service was interrupted in both northerly and southerly directions, owing to Trees falling across the track. At Waingawa siding a row of trucks was capsized by tbr gale. Ihe train which left Masttiton at 7.40 o’clock this morning got only as far as Clareville and was later taken back under great difficulty. Several carriages gave the appearance oi having been pelted under machine-gun fire, many windows being broken. The north train also returned to Masterton. l’he southern portion of the \\'a irural >a valley piesents a desolate spectacle to-da.y. FEATHERSTON ESCAPES. The town of Featherston escaped serious damage and only a fewwrecked outbuildings and flooded highways remind one of the storm, but the surrounding districts have s uffered 1 Kiel Jy. At 3 o’clock this afternoon portions of the- main highway were under a foot of water for many chains, while the road to Martin boro ugh was impassable.

Flying roof-iron severed telephone and power lines in all parts of the district and conditions were quite unsafe for pedestrians. A number of people are known to have been severely cut by flying glass. The railway service was severely dislocated and it is stated that it will be 24 hours before trains are able to get through. WORST IN CARTERTON. ROOFS TORN OFF. FEATHERSTON, Last Night. A westerly gale of exceptional severity swept Masterton and district this morning, causing damage running into many thousands of pounds. A large number of residences- were unroofed, many completely, and several buildings were wrecked. HIGHWAYS BLOCKED. Trees, fences and telephone and telegraph lines are down in all directions, nearly all the highways being blocked by fallen wires. Fortunately no one was injured except very slightly. The roof of the new portion of Burridge’s brewery in Queen street was wrenched completely away, turned over and deposited on the old rear portion. The large grandstand at Memorial park collapsed and the roof lies a. tangled mass of wreckage. Daniell’s timber mill also suffered serious damage, both the machinery shed and the joinery shed, each 120 ft by 64ft.. being unroofed and a, portion of the roof of the moulding shed parti all v clemol ish ed. A house in Opaki road had its roof completely torn off and part deposited on the other side of the road. Many other houses and buildings had their roofs partially wrecked. The Masterton showgrounds and buildings suffered badly, all open sheds being flattened and the produce hall wrecked. Scenes on some oi the roads were almost indescribable, large trees being uprooted and lying across tlie road with wires in utmost confusion.. The 7.20 train from Masterton to Wellington only got as far as Clareville and returned, while the early northward train only reached Opaki. All traffic has been suspended in the meantime. SHEETS OF IRON OX THE WING. Masterton Park and Mawle.y Park had many trees uprooted, the scene being almost, as if a null had been operating. Concrete telegraph poles were not broken on the Wellington road, but are leaning over at a considerable angle. Damage of a serious nature extends down the valley to Tauherenikau. Carterton appears to have suffered most severely. There the toll of damage is much the same as around Masterton. but it will probably he more severe. It will l>e days before the telephone and telegraph services are restored. At- the height of the storm sheets of corrugated iron were flying around like bits of paper.

GREYTOWN’S TRAIL* OF RUIN. Creytown suffered badly, the main street being a trail of ruin. Fallen chimneys, torn roofs and overturned outbuildings give the place a forlorn appearance. The Featherston telephone exchange cannot get into touch with any of the outback districts, so the extent of the damage beyond Pirinoa. is unknown but is certain to have been, fairly severe. The residential area in Masterton was affected to a far greater degree than the business centre. In a numbin' of cases houses were completely unroofed. Premises owned by the Etan Tee Cream Company were levelled. A side and the roof of the grandstand at Memorial Park collapsed end the large? timber mill of (!. F. Daniel], Ltd., fare d badly, the workmen fortunately escaping from under the collapsed roofs without more serious injuries than cuts. A 50-foot brick chimney fortunately fell without striking anyone. BRE WER Y WR EC K El). Both Masterton and Mawley parks are scenes of desolation, Portion of Burridge’s brewery was wrecked. The Masterton borough abbatoirs were partially unroofed and the borough lost a considerable quantity of gas as a result of wind blowing the water cut of 2 the cupping on the gasometer, w A bus conveying school children overturned between Greytown and Carterton. Fortunately the passengers escaped injury

WRECKAGE IN CARTERTON. BUS BLOWN OYER. WELLINGTON, October 1. Mr w. S Perry, of Masterton, who came through from Wairarapa this morning, when interviewed, said “You read about typhoons in Japan or China and about hurricanes in the Islands, but what Wairarapa has experienced is just as bad.” He said the wind seemed to reach maximum fury about 3 a.m. onward “We are used to wind in the Wairarapa, lout we had never experienced anything like this occasion.” Ho had left in his car at 7 a.m. lor Wellington, and the first peculiar thing he had noticed was that all the* men on the way to the freezing works were pushing their bi. cycles, riding being out of the question. Approaching Carterton matters got worse and ho had frequently to get out of his ear and clear a wav wire lying across the road in tangled masses. Carterton itself was simply a. scene of wreckage, roofs of sheds, tanks, etc., being scattered over the main street and telegraph and power lines were tangled together in. helpless contusion, ever so many poles being down, lie decided to struggle on to Wellington, if possible, and a.Ftor negotiating all kinds of obstacles and dodging wire, he cairn* across the -ViastertfHi-Cartertoji bus upside down blown over with the driver inside. They released the driver and continued their journey.

Mr Perry was wearing a new hat and when it blew away down a gully he decided to try and retrieve it. He succeeded but it took him a good hour to climb against the wind back to the road again. In one place the whole line of concrete poles was lying at an angle and leaving only just enough room for a car to get beneath. Cattle and sheep were blown up against the fences. PINE TREES LAID LOW. At Grey town a whole line of pine trees were laid low and at a timber mill, timber was being blown about like paper. Tt took nearly an hour to get past this point, dodging planks and getting over the wood. They thought of making a detour, but heard that across the Martinbor-ough-Featherston road at least twenty trees were lying down. After leaving Greytown the damage got less and less, the full blast being apparently between Greytown and Carterton. RIVERS RISING. Mr Perry said the rivers were rising and there seemed a danger of flooding as well. Mr Perry joined up with a service car driver, where the overturned bus was encountered and the two kept- company thereafter. Tlie damage throughout the stricken area must be very great, Mr Perry’s story indicating that the state of affairs were much worse than language expresses.

CARTERTON’S DESOLATION. The greatest destruction occurred at Carterton. There the wind commenced at midnight and reached gale force about 7 .o’clock. It blew fiercely till 10, but most of the damage was done in about three-quarters of an hour. Wakelin’s mill was partially blown down and Every’s garage roof torn away. Memorial Square jiresents a scene of desolation, trees and shrubs being uprooted and seats flung everywhere. The greatest damage was probably done at the Showgrounds, where the grandstand was unroofed and other buildings blown down. The wind came in strong gusts and sheets cl corrugated iron and pieces of timber went flying through the town. The miracle was that practically no serious injury was sustained bv any person as far as can be gathered. A garage employee bad an arm broken when a door was flung out of his hand. Another man had his jaw broken when he was hit with a piece of timber. A large passenger bus was overturned on tlie road a few miles south of Carterton, but nobody was injured. The weather is now clear and calm. WIND ROARS OUT OF TARARUAS CHIMNEYS BROKEN OFF. WELLINGTON, Last Night. Carterton is badly damaged. At 3 a.m. a roaring sound in the Tararuas announced that a heavy wind was on the way, and an hour later it struck the town with a roar. At its height the hurricane touched over ICK) m.p.h. A full five miles away, at Parkvale, which was also badly damaged, was found broken sections of a roof and other wreckage which had been blown all the way from Carterton. BUSINESS PA R A LYSED. Business in the town was completely paralysed, and to-morrow there will be little business done, except what Is necessary to supply the needs of the country people. There is not a candle left in a town shop, owing to the electric power having ceased. Among Carterton business premises damaged, the worst are: Dellcr’s meat mart, the Wairarapa Farmers’ Co-operative Association, Watson and Co., Mann’s shop, Whyte’s bakery, Frank Foist and Co., Tyler’s Buildings, Hill and Hughes’, and Wakelin Bros.’ flour mill. The South Wairarapa Motors is nothing but a hollow shell, with only a portion of the roof left flapping in the wind. Every garage is bad 1 y w reck ed. The chimneys of many houses were broken off at roof level. Enormous damage was done to sheds generally, and there was partial destruction of almost every farm in and around the district. The Bank of New Zealand building was to-day completely uninhabitable.

News from Featherston is that the damage there is very great and that Carterton has suffered to a greater extent, but how great is not known at Fe at her sto n. WORSE THAN EARTHQUAKE. A resident of Featherston, speaking' to the United Press Association office over the telephone, said that the storm transcended anything in his previous experience. The wind was terrific and buildings rocked as though in a violent earthquake. The root was taken off a cottage owned by Mr Cairn Lee, timber merchant, and many trees and poles were down. In one case fifty pinus insignis trees were down in half a mile. These had crashed down telephone and telegraph wires, breaking off the tops of the concrete poles. To make matters worse electric power is off. Rivers were running high, but there was no flooding at present and the main highway was still open. ROAR OF THE RAIN. The furious roar of rain on the loot was audible over the telephone while information was being given. News from Carterton states that several buildings have been unroofed. The contents of Brownlee’s timber yard weie scattered far and wide and at one place blocked the road for forty minutes. Eighteen thirty feet concrete poles were down north of Carterton and the damage appears to be considerable.

HOTEL UNROOFED. RIVER OVERFLOWS BAN KS. FEATHERSTON, Last Night. A member of the staff of tlie Press Association travelled from Wellington this afternoon to see the effects of the wind and rain in the Wairarapa. The Hutt river was full and rising, but the rain was not severe till past Upper Hutt. 0\ or the Rimutakas, cascades were falling down steep banks on tht* roadsides and there were numerous small slips, but the road was clear. The railway line was blocked at Dalefield, where two large meat wagons were overturned. Trees were also blown across the line. The first sign of actual damage was at the Tan here nikau hotel, which was partially unrooted and Hie chimney blown dowivon the* roof. Tlie wind there commenced about 7 this morning. At 9 o’clock two large gum trees were blown down, demolishing a shed in their fall. All the front of the roof was turned back, exposing tlie ceiling. ROADS UNDER. WATER. The road on each side of Featherston was under water, but cars were able to pass. About a- mile north of Tauliereniknu a large plantation of pinus insignis showed clearly the force of the wind. Trees wer e snapped off at varying heights. A short clistance further on. Brownlie s timber mill was passed and what had been orderly stacks of timber were now all in disorder, the timber being blown across the road. A mill hand stated that the wind commenced about midnight and gradually become stronger. When lie rose at daylight trees were going over like ninepins and sheets of iron and timber were being blown across the road, it being impossible for vehicles to pass. A few miles further on, ten concrete poles carrying telegraph and telephone wires were blown over to an angle of about 30 degrees from the road and it was almost impossible for a high car to pass underneath . Bain was still falling heavily, but tlie wind, although still strong, abated before reaching Greytown. Numerous trees were levelled, the roots in some cases showing to a diameter of 25 feet. The Waioliine river was overflowing its banks and water was flowing rapidly over the main road to a depth of a foot, to 18 inches. Only big cars or trucks were able* to pass tli rough. At the s*de of tlie road only the tops of fences could be seen", hut the road was some feet above tlie level of the surrounding fields. The water was still rising and debris was strewn all along the mad, but the obstructions were cleared.

MASTERTON HOUSES FLOODED. MASTERTON, Last Night. A westerly gale of terrific force swept Masterton and tlie surrounding district early this morning, causing damage running into many thousands of pounds. A considerable number of houses in C arterton and neighbouring districts were* completely or partially unroofed : also several factories and large buildings. The gale reached its severitv between 7 and 8 a.m. and at its height sheets of corrugated iron were flying around like pieces of paper. Among tlie many houses to have their roofs lifted was one in Opaki road, Lansclowne, the roof of which < ame off in one piece, struck the power lines and broke into two pieces, one of which fell in the garden of the house on the opposite side of the street. One impressive incident in the western side of the town was a flight through tlie air of a mass of roofing material, which landed on a property in Renell street. A section of the roofing from a house in Essex Street extension, rafts and other timbers, with the roofing iron still hanging together, was lifted bodily by the wind over a distance of some hundreds of yards and dashed against the strong trellis of a house in Ren all street. Practically all tlie highways in the district south of Masterton are blocked by uprooted trees, which are down in all direcions. The Waioliine flooded and burst its banks in the vicinity of Greytown, flooded .i considerable area of land and blocked the main road. The Waipoua overflowed and tlie water was running to a depth of several feet. In the main street of Masterton several houses were flooded and in at least two cases the occupants had to evacuate. STORM AT WELLINGTON. SH IPPINO BUFFETED. WELLINGTON, Last Night. Delayed for about 12 hours owing to poor visibility, the Union * cunpany’s R.M.S. Maunganui did not reach Wellington until 4.30 p.m. to-day from Sydney. The trip across the Tasman was an uncomfortable one for the passengers, a heavy swell being experienced from the time the vessel left Sydney until late on Sunday night, when she ran into a full gale from the north with heavy seas, which continued until her arrival in port. It was not the gale, however, which delayed the Maunganui, but thick, driving rain, which gave a minimum of visibility. To-day’s northerly gale and almost continuous rain delayed conv durably shipping at Wellington. In addition to the Maunganui, the

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A. and A. Line steamer Citv of Winchester, from New York. ~ via Auckland, and the X'nion Company’s At aimarino, from Auckland, were delayed by thick weather and spent the day in Palliser Bay. The AYaimarino made port to-nigljt. the weather having lifted slightlv during the afternoon, hut the Citv of Winchester apparently remained in Palliser Bay and is now expected to arrive in port in the morning. The Maunganui and the AVaimarino were the only vessels to arrive in port To-day, and apart from three ferry steamers, the trawler Nora Niven was the only vessel to leave port DAMAGE IN AYELLINGTOX. C ARS BLOAVN OFF ROAD. WELLINGTON - . Last Night. Although Wellington missed the full effect of the storm which wrought so much havoc in Wairarapa, minor damage was caused in the citv hy the tail-end of the gale. The highest gust recorded at Kelburn observatory was over 80 m.p.h. Iwq instances occurred of personal. injury. An elderly resident of Highland Park was blown over, receiving a. broken leg and bruises. When a power lino in Ixiwer Hint came down it touched a fence. Miss •loan Falconbridge, of Lever Bros., lifted a wire of the lenco for a companion to get through and received a shock from the 230 volts. She was thrown several yards but was not seriously hurt.

So fierce were the Fusts that a number of motor-cars were blown off the road. One vehicle at Day’s Bay, a car, was blown into the harbour. Fortunately it was low tide. SLIPS ON RIMUTAKAS. r ! lie Automobile Association (Wellington) reported last-night that conditions on the Rimutaka Hill were dangerous. Heavy rain had caused several slips, and had made one-way traffic necessary in the affected areas. Numerous boulders were strewn about the road. The (dub advised motorists to refrain Irom using tlie hill road except in cases where it was rcallv nece-surv Reports from the Hutt Valiev stated that a considerable amount of water was over he road in the vicinity oT the Silv."-stream railwav bridge. Ilie Taita Gorge road, however, was plear.