SEVERE GALES

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20524, 14 June 1938, Page 8

SEVERE GALES

TARANAKI HAVOC WHIRLWIND WRECKS HOUSE BLIZZARD ON MOUNT EGMONT (Bv Telegraph.—Special to Times) NEW PLYMOUTH. Monday A south-easterly wind of exceptional severity swept Taranaki to-day It followed a boisterous week-end. ir which there was a heavy rainfall. Blizzard conditions prevailed on Mount Egmont with heavy falls of snow. A whirlwind seriously damaged a farmhouse in Wills Road. Bell Block, near New Plymouth. Fortunately, the occupants were away at the time. When Mrs D. Johns and her four sons returned to the house they found a scene of wreckage. The wash-house w-as a flattened pile of debris and a spring cart was jammed in a hedge. The garage was apparently lifted into the air and the walls blbwn many yards, while the iron roof lay canted over a fence. As rain was pouring through the roof of the house where it was lifted by wind,.Mrs Johns and her family had to stay with neighbours, Mr and Mrs J. H. Street.

SEAFRONT SWEPT EMBANKMENT DAMAGED (By Tele anti.—Press Association) WELLINGTON. Monday The Petone seafront, the Hutt Road, and the east harbour bays received the full force of to-day's gales. At Koro Koro this morning a small car driven by a school teacher, Miss Allen, with three children as passengers, was blown over and down a 30ft bank in Singer’s Road. No one was hurt. Previously at the same place the top >f a lorry has been twice blown off. The railway embankment running alongside the sea and the main Hutt Road were undermined by pounding seas which, dashing on to the rocks, and the protective concrete formation, threw spray 30ft to iOft in the uir and across the Hutt Road. As a result of the damage to the embankment one set of rails was not used, and the inner track carried all trains. The East Harbour Road was awash at Point Howard between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Driftwood, boulders and beach shingle were tossed up on to the road at all exposed points and gangs were employed in the late afternoon clearing the highway to Eastbourne. The ferry service was suspended during the day and did not resume until a pm.

FORESHORE BATTERED OAMARU WORKS DAMAGED (By Telegraph.—Pro«« asso-ixiio?si OAMARU, Monday As the result of battering by tremendous seas a great part of the foreshore' protection work carried out by the Railway Department at Oamaru in the past year has been practically nullified. For 200 yards hardly one of the many hundreds of tons of big rocks remain. Near the gasworks the stones have 'subsided, and will not effectively prevent further erosion. To-day more huge seas are doing further damage. The damage so far represents thousands of pounds.

FLOODS SUBSIDING SNOWFALLS IN CANTERBURY (By Telegraph.—Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH, Tuesday Serious flooding on the main road near Little River is the most serious aftermath of the bitjterly southerly storm which swept the province from Saturday night till early this morning. The water is over 2ft. 6in. deep on the road in the township itself. Flooding has receded after being nearly a foot deep at midnight last night. Heavy snow is reported from the back country, two feet being recorded at Porter’s Pass and the snow is covering the foothills at Springfield. Other reports from back-country districts reveal gale conditions generally with heavy rainfalls. A smattering of snow on the Cashmere Hills greeted city residents this morning, following heavy sleet storms during the night. Light snow is lying all over the port hills but did not reach sea level areas. The peak of the storm was reached in the city between 9 o'clock and midnight last night but this morning conditions had shown a decided improvement.