Hail, Ice, Fireballs

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19461, 28 December 1934, Page 5

Hail, Ice, Fireballs

HAVOC IN QUEENSLAND, TERRIFIC GALt EXPERIENCED. (WIDE AREA SWEPT. MUCH MATERIAL DAMAGE. ONE FATALITY REPORTED, United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright, (Received Dec. 28, 11.30 a.m.) BISBANE, Dec. 28. Terrlflo storms yesterday caused extensive damage to property In scattered parts of Queensland, During a torrential downpour at Yandina on the north coast a fireball fell in a ■sugarcane plantation. Tile explosion shook the buildings in the township and the occupants of the plantation were affected by the concussion and a dazzling white light, i At Roma the roof of the powerhouse collapsed, plunging the whole town in darkness. Pieces of ice fell during a hail and wind storm at SI. George, in the Marando district, where a section of the State school buildings was wrecked, oilier buildings being .unroofed. The water overflowed the street channels, flooding tlie business premises. All the streams in the Maranoa district are in flood. Thousands of trees at Goondiwindi were torn.up by the roots or snapped off. Graziers’ homes and shearing sheds ■were unroofed and outbuildings razed by the hurricane. Seven inches of rain fell in a few hours, and the township of Yelarhan is isolated in a sea of water. Telegraph lines are down everywhere, and the mail train from Goondiwindi to Brisbane is delayed by trees, which had crashed across the lines. Mr Joseph Burke, a well-known pastoralist, of the Warwick district, was drowned while attempting to cross a flooded stream on horseback.