SEVERE STORM

Southland Times, Issue 22898, 25 May 1936, Page 6

SEVERE STORM

Damage On Norfolk Island ROAD WASHED AWAY (United Press Association.) Auckland, May 24, Wide destruction was caused on Norfolk Island when four inches of rain which fell on Wednesday night was followed by a severe electrical storm with torrential rain on Thursday night, states a special cable sent from the Island to The New Zealand Herald. A total of 15| inches of rain fell between 9 o’clock on Thursday night and 7 o’clock on Friday morning. Cable communication with Auckland, Suva and Southport on the Queensland coast, which was interrupted when the cable hut on the Island was washed away, was restored with Auckland at 12.30 p.m. on Saturday and with Southport at 2.30. The work of restoration was carried out under great difficulty. The cables were deeply buried and those engaged in the work were under the constant risk of landslides. A road was washed completely away, landslides occurred in all parts of the island and small rivers are now running down the hillsides in several places. The golf links were strewn with household effects and large boulders and the cemetery was inundated at the eastern end with flood waters where the waves are now encroaching. The approach to Cascade Landing is impassable except by horse or on foot and the road is practically washed away. It is as yet impossible to estimate the damage, but it is certain that people dwelling in the valleys in particular will be heavy losers.