HEAVY STORM

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 227, 24 April 1933, Page 6

HEAVY STORM

FIERCE GALE IN TARANAKI

Big Seas on Coast

The severe westerly gale which swept the Taranaki coast on Saturday night and Sunday brought with it exceptionally heavy seas, some of the heaviest that have been experienced for many years. Huge breakers swept along the entire seafront at New Plymouth. Though no damage was done the effect cf ',■:.■ battering may be felt in at leas! iv -'- tions if the spring tide ..;■... .% ... with it heavy seas. The port of New Plymouth presented an awe-inspiring and magnificent sight. The sea roared through the channel betw~..' Mikotahi and Moturoa like a

cataract, hurling itself over the breakwater, which was hidden from view at times. Foam and spray were thrown almost 40 feet into the air. The bay between Mikotahi and Paritutu resembled a cauldron. The Port Fremantle and the dredge Paritutu, however, enjoyed comparative calm in the shelter of the harbour.

A watch was kept on the newly-con-structed sewerage outlet at the foot of Eliot Street, but the new work was standing up well. A little further towards the town a crack on the top of the cliff has started, and is likely to carry away fully thirty feet more of the cliff, bringing the edge almost to the road line. It is at present impossible to locate the full extent of the crack. East End missed the brunt of the storm, being sheltered by the cliffs. There was no sign of damage. Fitzroy experienced a few anxious moments. The seaside park's caretaker (Mr. A. E. Lewis) stated that he had never seen the sea so high. At one stage it was within a foot of the gap above the dressing sheds. Preparations are being made to block this possible point of danger when the tide reaches full height. Further down the beach at Strandon one marram-covered hillock has been washed away. Rain and Thunderstorm

A curious phenomenon was observed

in the valley behind the sandhills at Strandon. It appeared as though there were fires in the grass, but what was thought to be smoke rising was only fine sand swept off the beach into the air.

A thunderstorm was experienced in North Taranaki on Friday afternoon. At Ohau there was a tremendous downpour and many of the roads became impassable. Motorists returning from Hamilton encountered the storm after leaving Awakino and the journey across Mount Messenger was anything but pleasant. So bad were the conditions that the lights of cars had to be used despite the fact that it was only four o'clock. The passage of the Uruti valley was very trying. The gale swept up with terrific force and one powerful car with the accelerator right clown could not make 20 miles an hour. The wind found its way under the waterproof covering of the sedan's hood and tore it off. The driver, Mr. Oswald Cook, New Plymouth, stated that it was the worst storm he had encountered in many years of motoring experience.

Though no really serious damage was done, several boughs were blown down and a goal post at the southern end or Pukekura Park sportsground snapped at the bottom. Minor damage was done in New Plymouth, wireless and telegraph poles and fences suffering mainly, while a sign was blown down in Brougham Street. The high tension system in the borough was undamaged, the electrical engineer, reported. The goal posts at the northern end of the football ground on the Camp Reserve at Waitara were levelled to trie ground during Saturday night. Mr. G. O. Smith, the Waitara borough electrical engineer, was kept busy yesterday repairing several broken electric wires. The gale and heavy showers in the early hours of yesterday morning chumed several Waitara residents to wonder if their houses would be roofless berore morning, but no damage was reported. The tide yesterday morning was exceptionally high. Had the wind been from the north-west those living in the seaside cottages nearest the beach would have had an anxious time. The only inconvenience fhey were put to was caused by the sand, which found its way under the doors.

South Taranaki did not escape, Hawera in particular being swept by wind and rain with occasional bail. The weather was the coldest experienced for some time.

After a summer in which Mt. Egmont has been clearer of snow than any year : since 1918, a cold change brought rain, hail and snow to the mountain slopes on Friday. Egmont, when the clouds lift, will bear a light mantle of snow well below Humphries Castle. Throughout the summer the northern and western slopes of the province's sentinel have been devoid of snow, which has been visible only in a few shady spots en the shadowed side and in the crater. On Friday night winter descended and there was a fall of snow that covered the ground a mile down the road. Rain, hail and a gale of wind followed on Saturday and dissolved the lower-lying deposit. , Small smashed-off boughs and foliage litter the road in various places from the radius line to the hostel and in one place an overhanging mass of bush foliage is dangling a few feet from the road. A bitterly cold wind swirled across the mountain-side on Saturday and yesterday, but the only damage done to the houses was the removal of a length of about 2ft. from the top of an iron chimney at the old house. It: landed on the roof during the night just above the sleeping custodian's head, but the remainder of the buildings withstood the gale.

There were few visitors to the hostel yesterday as intermittent rain and a steady chill wind made conditions more unpleasant than at lower levels. A party of alpine club members spent: the day in cutting an alternative track to the ski-ing ground near the Hen and Chickens to eliminate the trudge to Humphries Castle and then across country.