BUILDINGS CRASH

Southland Times, Issue 21820, 24 September 1932, Page 5

BUILDINGS CRASH

QUEENSLAND TORNADO CHURCH LIFTED INTO AIR HOMES DEMOLISHED (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) Brisbane, September 23. A tornado tore across the outskirts of Gympie, leaving a trail of chaotic ruin. The Roman Catholic Church was lifted 10 feet into the air and crashed in a mass of wreckage. Railway trucks weighing about 20 tons were swept off the rails, while petrol drums, each containing 50 gallons, were carried 40 yards away by the wind. In the One Mile district several families managed to hurry from their homes as they were tom down like cardboard. The roads throughout the district were strewn with uprooted trees. Hundreds of sheets of galvanized iron were carried for miles. The strange vagaries of the storm are demonstrated by the fact that while the houses on one side of a street were demolished those on the other side were unscathed. A heavy hailstorm following the tornado has ruined the crops. The damage to houses, shops, etc., is estimated at £lO,OOO. All the telephone and electric light wires were broken and knotted. Two houses at Carlton Hill were lifted bodily and deposited two chains away. The occupants of one suffered severely from shock. A number of people were treated for injuries suffered by flying debris.