FIERCE STORMS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 306, 27 December 1937, Page 5

FIERCE STORMS

HEAVY DAMAGE CAUSED NEW SOUTH WALES TOWNS. HOTEL PARTIALLY WRECKED. SYDNEY, Dec. 10. Fierce storms did much damage in several parts of the State yesterday. The most destuctive was a squall which swept for about 100 miles across a section of the north-western slopes, at the rate of about 80 miles an hour, leaving a trail of ruin. Houses were unroofted, and old buildings were demolished. At South Grafton hundreds of windows were smashed, iron roofs were i pierced, street trees were stripped of leaves, vegeetabls and flower gardens destroyed, and power, telegraph and telephone lines were put out of commission by a tierce hailstorm. The storm isolated Grafton and all the North coast centres from Sydney and southern centres. Maize and other crops were damaged. At Sydney, two houses were struck by lightning. A large panelbeating works in the centre of Lismore was wrecked and a public hall at Ruthven was blown down.

Towns in the direct path of the gale were Gunncdah, Manilla and Bendemeer, all of which suffered heavy damage, Manilla faring worst.

The storm struck Manilla without warning. A large stone parapet on the Court House Hotel was dislodged, and 50 tons of masonry crashed down with such force that it passed through the first and ground floors and 101 l into the cellar. Three men who were in the bar were struck by falling debris and injured.

The proprietress, Mrs. Hirschberg, was trapped in her room on the top storey when the floor immediately outside her door was swept away. Throe roms and the hallway were demolished, and bar fittings and stock in the cellar were destroyed. The damage is estimated at several hundred pounds. At Bendemeer the post office and many residences were partially unroofed and afterward flooded. More than an inch of rain fell in 25 minutes. At Kootinga'l, a few miles off the track of the tornado, 4in. of rain and hail fell in less than an hour. A large area was inundated, and there was 30ft. of water over the Limbri Road, two miles from Kootingal.