STORM IN SYDNEY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 231, 30 September 1943, Page 5

STORM IN SYDNEY

MOST SEVERE IN HISTORY THREE INCHES OF RAIN FALL IN AN HOUR Recd. 1 a.m. Sydney, Sept. 29. More than three inches of rain fell in one hour this morning when Sydney experienced one of the most severe storms in its history. Water inundated low-lying areas, invaded homes, shops and factories an* marooned thousands of people. A fire-ball partly unroofed a church and several trams and trains and a bus were struck by lightning, but the 1 passengers escaped injury. Heavy hail fell when the storm broke and in some parts the drifts were four feet in depth. Some hailstones were as big as marbles. Tram, train and bus traffic was dislocated, and tens of thousands of people were late for work. Key city terminals were in chaos as the downpour prevented travellers from leaving wharves and stations. Some waded through the flooded streets in bare 'feet. j Many thousands of pounds worth of damage was done to market gardens, land poultry farms in the outer I suburbs. Crops were washed away !or broken down by the hail, and fowls died in hundreds—drowned or killed by the hail.