CYCLONE AT NOUMEA

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 238, 9 May 1933, Page 6

CYCLONE AT NOUMEA

Tremendous Damage Done The Union Company's cargo steamer Kanna, which arrived at Auckland from Walpole Island on Sunday, was at Noumea four days after the port was visited by a severe cyclone which swept over New Caledonia on April 9 and 10, The storm did thousands of pounds' worth of damage ashore and afloat. The Japanese steamer Juyo Maru was driven ashore at the entrance to the port and she became a total wreck. Another vessel driven ashore was the 486-tons steamer Loyalty, which is not expected to be salvaged. In addition, several small vessels and fishing craft were lost. Some were driven ashore by the storm and others were blown to sea and lost with their crews.

On shore, buildings were damaged, some of them having their roofs blown off. Rain found it way into the public hospital and damaged interior fittings, including the X-ray apparatus. Palm trees were blown down and one large banyan tree in the public gardens was uprooted. Damage was also done to warehouses on the waterfront.

The Juyo Maru was a Japanese-built steamer of 5458 tons and was en route from Vancouver to Australia with a large cargo of timber. The vessel called at Noumea to bury the chief engineer, who had died during the voyage. Had the vessel completed the voyage to Australia safely, she was afterward to come to New Zealand to load scrap metal for Japan. The Messageries Maritimes steamer Boussole, 5123 tons, had an narrow escape during the cyclone. The vessel was lying at the concrete wharf, made fast with heavy mooring lines. She blew away from the wharf, but was towed clear by the small warship Aldebaran and afterward anchored in the roadstead. The wind caused her to drag her anchors and she narrowly escaped being stranded. The bumping she received at the wharf caused damage to the hull and propeller, but she was able to leave for France after the storm subsided.

The cyclone had passed to the eastward before the Karma reached Noumea, but she experienced high, confused seas. Only the edge of the cyclone struck Walpole Island, 144 miles from Noumea, but the heavy seas carried away the wharf. The Kanna had to wait at the island for over a week before repairs could be effected to the wharf to allow the vessel to load.