DISASTROUS STORM

Wairarapa Age, 3 February 1936, Page 5

DISASTROUS STORM

MANY DISTRICTS SUFFER SEVERE DAMAGE PALMERSTON NORTH BADLY 4 BATTERED SERIOUS FLOODS IN TINUI VALLEY. Serious damage by floods and wind occurred in many parts of the North Island during the week-end, as the result of a severe storm that set in on Saturday evening and continued unabated until late yesterday afternoon. Although the Wairarapa was affected to a considerable extent the damage here was negligible compared with the Manawatu district, where the gale was particularly severe. Palmerston North suffered most severely, many houses being unroofed and a man, who was blown off a roof received fatal injuries. Two carriages on a train travelling between Wellington and Palmerston North were blown off the line near Shannon and several passengers injured. In the Wairarapa a few Masterton streets ineluding Queen Street, were flooded to some extent on account of the Waipoua River overflowing but the flood was of short duration. The Whareama and Whakataki valleys, on the East Coast, experienced the worst flood for years, many houses at Tinui and other places being invaded to a considerable depth of flood water. The rainfall in Masterton from 8 p.m. on Saturday until about 7 p.m. last night was over four inches, while at Whangarei, North Auckland, over eleven inches were recorded.