FLOOD OF STORM WATER

Southland Times, Issue 19661, 11 October 1922, Page 2

FLOOD OF STORM WATER

BOYS CAUGHT IN CANAL. ONE DROWNED AFTER STRUGGLE. Three boys were caught in a rush of water in a storm water canal at Lewisham, after a storm broke over Sydney on the afternoon of September 23. They were hurtled along the canal fiV over half a mile. Two of them managed to scramble to safety, but the third—Henry Cameron — disappeared, and it is feared that he was washed into Long Cove and drowned. Cameron was 10 years of age. Early in the afternoon he went with his two cousins —Thomas Edwin Blanch, aged 15, and John Francis William Blanch, aged 14—to play near the storm water canal at the end of Victoria Street. When the storm broke they ran to the canal for shelter. There were only a few inches of water in the canal at the time, and the three boys eat. down against the sheltered side of the wall. They had been there only a few minutes when without warning a torrent of water rushed down upon them. The three were swept off their feet and were soon struggling desperately'To regain the sides of the | canal, which are very wide apart, wide | enough, in fact, to drive a horse and cart along it in parts. The three boys were in the middle of the deluge, and although they fought hard, they could not get from the centre of the swirling waters. The two Blanch boys put up a hard fight to regain' the sides, but when Cameron appeared to be in difficulties John Blanch gave up his attempt to reach the wall and tried to help his cousin. John grabbed Cameron as soon as he was swept in his direction, and held on to him firmly. Thomas Blanch was just ahead of his brother and cousin, and appeared to be all right. For over half a mile the three boys struggled.* against the seething waters. They passed along the bed of the canal alongside Parramatta Road at a fast rate, under Stanton Bridge, and then on until Battle Bridge was reached. The water swept them along relentlessly, but at Battle Bridge the torrent was more shallow and its force was not so great. Cameron was beginning to show signs of exhaustion, and John Blanch, who had hung on to him for the greater part of the journey, was nearly in a state of collapse. At Battle Bridge, where John Blanch’s feet struck the bottom of the canal, he could not hold on to Cameron any longer, and had to let go. Thomas Blanch also touched bottom and he .managed to gat a foothold. The two brothers then grabbed each other, and with their concerted strength kept their footing. The waters appeared to subside, a little, and after a few minutes they both regained the sides of the canal and clambered to safety. Cam cron, however, was too weak io fight for himself, and he was swept on, and quickly disappeared from view. John Blanch collapsed on reaching the shore, and his brother Thomas ran for assistance. John was taken to the Lewisham Hospital and treated. Thomas was taken to his home. Cameron’s bodys was recovered from Long Cove three days later. Tine violent storm, which was accompanied by vivid lightning, hail, and thunder, broke about 5 p.m. At the Weather Bureau in the city, 72 pointe of rain were recorded, of which 50 pointe fell in 13 minutes, between 4.40 p.m. and 4.53 p.m. The thunderstorm came in from the west-south-west, travelling at the rate of 22 miles per hour. Gardens in North Sydney, Cremorne, and Mosman were severely damaged, blossoms being scattered, and tender growth suffering considerably. The hail in most cases was not large, but it fell in such quantities that gutterings became choked. In the open the hail piled up like, snow to the depth of several inches, while in corners it accumulated, in heaps ranging from Ist to 4ft in height. A motorist proceeding from Parramatta to Mosman by the Ryde and Lane Cove .Roads had a remarkable experience. He left Parramatta at 4.30 p.m., and did the journey at the height of the storm without feeling a drop of rain, but on arriving at his home in Mosman he was amazed to find it almost impossible to enter his back gate owing to accumulations of hail, which was heaped up 3ft deep in the yard. The explanation of his dry trip is that he drove on the edge of the storm, just keeping out of the rain belt.