FURIOUS GALE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20424, 1 October 1934, Page 7

FURIOUS GALE.

Severe Damage ir Wairarapa. DUS TURNED OVER. TELEGRAPH AND POWER LINES DOWN. Per Preen Association. WELLINGTON. October 1. Mr W. G. Perry, of Masterton, came through from Wairarapa this morning. Interviewed he said: “ You read about typhoon* in Japan or China and about hurricanes in the Islands, but what Wairarapa experienced this morning was just as bad. The wind seemed to reach its maximum fury from 3 a.m. onwards. We are used to wind in Wairarapa, but I had never experienced anything like this before.” Mr Perry left in his car at 7 a.m for Wellington. The first peculiar thing he noticed was that all the men on their way to the freezing works were pushing their bicycles, riding being out of the question. Approaching Carterton. he found that matters got worse. He had frequently to get out of his car and clear away wire lying across the road in tangled masses. Carterton itself was simply a scene of wreckage. The roofs of sheds, tanks, etc., were littered alK>ut the main, street, and the telegraph and power lines were tangled together in helpless confusion, ever so many poles being down. Bus Upside Down. Mr Perry decided to struggle on to Wellington if possible, and after negotiating all kinds of obstacles and dodging wire, he came across the MastertonCarterton bus upside down, blown over, with the driver inside. He released the driver and continued the journey. Mr Perry joined up with a service car driver where the overturned bus was encountered and the two kept company thereafter. Mr Perry was wearing a new hat and when it blew away down a gully he decided to try to retrieve it. He succeeded, but it took him a good hour to climb against the wind back to the road again. In one place a whole line of concrete poles was lying at an angle and leaving only just room for the car to get beneath. Stock Suffer. Cattle and sheep were blown up against fences. At Greytown, a whole line of pine trees was laid low and at a timber mill the timber was being blown about like paper. It took nearly an hour to get past this point, dodging planks and getting over wood. They thought of making a detour but heard that across the MartinboroughFeatherston road at least twenty trees were lying. After Greytown. the damage got less and less, the full blast being apparently between Greytown and Carterton. Mr Perry said that the rivers were rising and there seemed a danger of flooding as well. The damage throughout the stricken area must be very great. Mr Perry’s story indicates that the state of affairs is much worse than earlier reports suggested. News from Featherston states that the damage there is very great and that Carterton has suffered to a greater extent, but how great is not known at Featherston.