SYCLOME IN POVERTY BAY

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1928, Page 8

SYCLOME IN POVERTY BAY

MANY BUILDINGS DAMAGED NUMEROUS STARTLING EPISODES, TWO MEN ROLLED INSIDE A HUT. COMMUNICATIONS BROKEN DOWN. By Tclczraph.—Press Association. Gisborne, Sept. 22. In Poverty Bay. dawn to-day was ushered in by a strong wind which in a few hours increased to a gale of hurricane force, the climax being reached about nine o’clock. The wind then eased down, until at noon it had dropped considerably, though towards evening the wind again commenced to spring up. During the eight or nine hours the gale raged this morning considerable damage was done in many directions. Telephone and telegraphic communication was blocked for some hours, Gisborne being practically isolated. Wires were down between Wairoa and Napier on the south line and at Matawai on the north line. Early in the afternoon communication was restored.

Two country townships, Whatatutu and Ruatorea, suffered severely. Whatatutu is inland about 28 miles north of Gisborne. The gale experienced there was the worst in the memory of settlers living there. The wind came rushing down the valley with terrific force which reached its zenith about nine o’clock.

Amongst the first buildings affected was the two-storey hotel, the front verandah of which broke away with a crash, portions being carried over the roof and into the backyard. The alarmed residents heard the noise, but were too busy protecting their own property to render much assistance. The hurricane continued down the valley and soon a large blacksmith's shop, which was unoccupied, was demolished. Several houses had their roofs blown completely off and chimneys were brought down in all directions. Flying timber and sheets of iron were in some cases carried miles away. A portion of the roof of a large store was blown off and the staff hurriedly threw ropes over the remaining portion for security. The shelter shed at the school was completely wrecked and several small buildings were blown down and demolished. Numerous exciting incidents occurred during the gale, and some narrow escapes were recorded. Tn one case a woman who had been seriously ill was removed from her home just a few minutes before the roof under which she had sheltered was carried away. BACK COUNTRY ISOLATED. From Whatatutu' a large number of private telephone lines extended in all directions, and these are now down, the back country beyond Whatatutu being completely isolated. Motor-cars in Whatatutu and its vicinity presented an unUsual sight, numerous hoods being blown off. Reports of damage in the interior cannot yet be obtained, but it is reported that the wool shed at Mr. Dunean Campbell’s Mangamaia station was partly wrecked.

Equal damage was done at Ruatorea, 82 miles north of Gisborne on the East Coast. Here the balcony of the hotel was completely demolished and several windows were broken and ehimneys brought down. A building under construction was blown down and the flying timber crashed ou to telephone wires, putting all of them out of action. On Mr. J. Roody’s property a threeroomed whare was, at the time when the gale was at its height of fury, occupied by two men. One of them was shaving when the wind caught the whare and rolled it over and over fqr fully 100 yards with both men inside, the building being finally demolished. The two men were badly bruised and suffered from severe shock, but are not seriously hurt. The roof and the shelter shed at the school was blown off and the same fate befell a large cottage next to the hotel. Many windows were blown in. At Jerusalem the roof of the church was blown off and the roof of a small house was removed bodily. Another house was in course of erection with all the walls up. In an instant these were laid flat on the ground, the timber flying in all directions. Between Ruatorea and Tokomaru Bay motor traffic was impeded by big trees blown down across the roads, and in the height of the gale many drivers took the precaution to bind ropes over the tops of their cars.

No damage is reported in Gisborne beyond several fences and shop signs being brought down in the wind and some small windows in houses in positions exposed to the gale blown in. On the Poverty Bay flats several maize eribs were overturned, but fortunately were empty, the owners having shelled their crops. In one case a settler found the top of his neighbour’s crib in his back yard.