The Hurricane in the South.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5568, 13 September 1889, Page 3

The Hu rricane in the South.

SEVERE DAMAGE : FORCE OF THE GALE.

Chri.stchukch, Wednesday.

Reports continue to come to hand of great damage in the country districts by the nor'-west gale on Monday night. The farmers will probably be severe sufferers. It is stated on all hands that the lately ploughed and sown soil has been blown completely away, jind the seed bods drifted up against the lee fences. In many instances paddocks have been swept bare of every vestige of loose soil. This Ims been deposited on the adjoining roads, or piled u p level with the adjoining fences, which in some cases are covered by it. At Sheffield the correspondent of the Lyttelton Times describes the soil thus blown n\x,iy as passing over in clouds that obscured the moonlight and tilled the houses in that and the neighboring districts. The schools were closed yesterday, the people being busy clearing the dirt out of the dwellings. Stacks, outhouses, and sheds naturally suffered severely everywhere. At Oxford the bush caught fire, three houses were burnt to the ground, and a stable was blown down. The Homebush station was destroyed. Sheffield suffered, but not so severely as Ashburton, where the violence of the gale was felt most severely. The telegraph wires were all down, the poles being snapped like carrots. The roof waa blown off the Loan and Mercantile Co.'s big store, one end being taken clean off. All round the district suffered. A newly-erected engine shed at Springston, Mount Somers district, was completely destroyed. Houses, stables, and trees were blown down. At the Geraldine racecourse the grand-stand was unroofed and the grain stacks damaged. The gale was felt with great force generally throughout South Canterbury. Rain has fallen steadily all to-day, doing immense good to tl'e early crops, pastures, &.