ELECTRICAL STORM PASSES OVER MARTON, SOME DAMAGE CAUSED

Wanganui Chronicle, 4 November 1949, Page 3

ELECTRICAL STORM PASSES OVER MARTON, SOME DAMAGE CAUSED

The vagaries of spring weather were well demonstrated in Marton yesterday when within a matter of about an hour and a-half, the town experienced warm sunshine, thunder and lightning and a sharp hail storm, to be followed by lialf-an-nour's heavy rain which was responsible for some minor flooding in Broadway. It was the lightning, however, which evoked most comment.

Shortly before 1 p.m. rumblings in the western sky presaged .the approaching storm and it was not long before vivid flashes of lightning danced across the black storm clouas. Had the disturbance been in the evening hours, residents would undoubtedly have witnesses a spectacular electrical storm which would have illuminated the sky in brilliant hues. For about an hour deafening thunder claps rent the air at intervals interspersed with lightning ilashes. There was a particularly sharp hail storm soon after 1 p.m. The hail-stones were the size of peas.

Heavy rain later set in until just after 2 p.m., when the force abated considerably. So heavy was the fall that the storm water drainage in Broadway was unable to cope with the volume. The culvert at the corner of Follett Street and Broadway was blocked with debris and the water soon banked up over the intersection, running across Follett Street. At the height of the storm the Marton Volunteer Fire Brigade was called out to the joinery factory of the Marton Sash and Door, in Wellington Road, but it was a justified false alarm. The lightning was responsible for a short circuit, in the sprinkler alarm system at the factory, setting off the alarm at the Fire Station. The lightning caused a certain amount o£ damage to telephones and power supply. A power transformer fused in Wellington Road and will have to be replaced. When it blew out the explosion startled residents living in the vicinity. As a ..result some local residents were without electric power for a short time yesterday afternoon. The Post and Telegraph Department were also kept busy in the afternoon trying to restore local communications. Late yesterday afternoon about 50 lines were out of commission, damaged by the lightning, and this number was likely to be increased, when investigations were completed, said a technician. The remainder of the afternoon was showery, but by 5 p.m. the sun was shining again and temperatures just as warm. COUNTY ROAD IMPROVEMENTS. A new culvert over the Tutaenui Stream on the Bonny Glen-Norwood Corner Road had been completed and would be carrying traffic this week, stated the engineer, Mr. H. Murray Reid, at the monthly meeting in Marton yesterday of the Rangitikei County Council. Remaining culverts were nearing completion and the contractor should start reconstruction next week, the eingineer added.