STRUCK BY TORNADO.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 145, 22 June 1931, Page 10

STRUCK BY TORNADO.

HAVOC IN ADELAIDE MANY BUILDINGS UNROOFED BOW OF HOUSES WRECKED. A fierce tornado struck North Adelaide shortly after 11 o’clock last Thursday morning, and damaged many homes and buildings to tho extent of several thousand pounds. Big trees were uprooted, and one row of seven houses in North Adelaide was almost demolished. The institution for the Blind was unroofed, and the children’s hospital was narrowly missed. The verandah of i shop at North Adelaide was lifted bodily and smashed against electric cables, catapulting through the air in a mass of flames. Inmates of the Blind Instituion were in an unfortunate position. They •could hear crashing around them, but could see nothing. Tho whole building shook and there was a deafening roar of tearing iron. Those indoors were advised to stay where they' were to aviod being struck by flying iron. Milford guest home in North Adelaide, which has stood for 62 years, had three rooms unroofed, and rain poured into the house. The whole of tho roof of tho home of Mrs. Lawrence Trott was carried away, and rooms were flooded. Children who were playing on the verandah had a narrow escape.

Suction of the Tornado. In the home of Mr. C. G. Coles, a neighbour of Mrs. Trott, Mrs. Coles heard the roar of tho advancing tornado, and, running for her children, pulled them into the kitchen just as tho verandah wall collapsed and the roof and galvanised iron fence were whirled over the house into the park. A peculiar feature of tho storm was ts sharply-defined track. Houses lying on either side of those badly damaged escaped. Mrs. E. Jolley, one of tho (A'cupants of houses in the ruined section, tried to open tho door of her house to rush out, but so strong was the suction of tho tornado that the door held fast and the handle came off in her hand. Suddenly the roof and eart of the ceiling were carried away. Windows were torn from their frames. Misses Read, who live next door, heard a crash like thunder, and part of the wall and roof of tho kitchen fell in. Th residence of Mr. I’. Lampheo received the full force of the storm. Tho hedge and fence were strewn over the garden, and chimneys fell through the tiled roof. Woman’s Narrow Escape. Three-quarters of the roof of the bottling shed of the Adelaide Wine and Spirit. Company, of Hackney, was lifted, and part, of the western wall wrecked. Damage is estimated at £lOOO. A narrow escape from injury was experienced by Mrs. J, Fax, who lives with her daughter, Mrs. M. C. Geddes. Mr Fax said he could near big trees in the adjoining park snapping under the pressure of the wind. Mrs Fax was making her bed when the chimney and a pile of bricks crashed through the ceiling, missing her bv inches. Three chimneys were blown down on this house, but no furniture was damaged. Sweeping through Hackney, the storm loft, a trail of broken fences, smashed windows, and dismantled chimneys, until it reached Maylands,

where a roof measuring 80 feet by 50 feet was torn from the tram depot and blown 200 feet into the air. sailing 100 yards into tho street, where the timbers trailing behind struck an electric light post and then crashed on to Iho roof of Mr W. H. Kcnneally’s house. The verandah and chimney and some brickwork were carried away. “Like a Gigantic Funnel.” An eye-witness at the Teachers* Training College said that he saw 1 rom his window a black cloud approaching half-a-mile away, like a gigantic iunnel. The funnel must hn\e been 100 yards in diameter. It tapered as it reached the earth, swirling, dipping. and swaying as it raced along. It seemed to travel at the rate of 100 miles an hour. Sheets of tin and parts of fences were thrown into the air as if they were matches. A man was leading a horse and cart out into the street when the storm caught him and overturned the horse and cart. As he tried to run he was pivke<l up by the wind, carried across the footpath and gutter, and dumped into a pool of water oa the road.