Page 4, Wednesday, June 30th, 1971, WHITBY FREE PRESS A Free Press Special Report by Charlotte Gentles Six inch rainfall hits district Hi Folks! Did you survive the recent storm alright? We did, and we can say that we are among the lucky ones; so here we are to tell you about the worst storm to hit this district since Hurri- cane Hazel which created a great deal of damage in this area in 1954. Darrage in Myrtle-Ashburn area Oshawa reported some hail, but the Ashburn-Myrtle areawas struck by hail- s t o n e s measuring about two inches in diameter. Thestones did not bounce off the roofs in the same manner as it did in Whitby-Town area. There was hun- dreds of dollars damage done to win- d o w s a n d t o the greenhouses i n the Myrtle-Ashburn area. The hailstones came down smashing through the glass and doing damage to the plants inside of t h e g r e enhouses. A Whi tby Works Department employee said he was out with the crews during the storm Sunday evening and early Monday morning. "The hailwas terrific", he said, "Inever saw the likes of it. The stones were quite large. The boys were out and kept busy due to flooding of the roads in the dis- t r i ct. There vere branches down a II over the place north of Brooklin. The storm really kept us busy. " Ajax havoc free In all areas there was the report of flooded basements and sewers backing up. The only exception was Ajax where both the Police and Fire Departments said there were no fires and nothing to report. The Town didn't get too much damage, although they got the rain and hail. ln the survey of the area made by the W H ITLBY F R E E PRESS, the Whitby Police reported that there weremany c a l Is received as a result of flooded basements in the area. But for a time, the Police Station couldn't do much of anything as the electrical storm knocked out both the hydro and the telephones in thearea. The Town Police was without any communication for two hours, with the exception of their emergency sys- tem. This is an emergency power that is switched on and there is radio com- munication between the officers at the Police Station and those in the Police Cruisers on patrol. 1 Best SPARERIBS in 1 Whitby Town 668-8807 204 BROCK ST. S. WHITBY WE DELIVER Lightning struck at town fire department The Whi tby Fi re Department officials said that the department was struck by lightning and the result was their com- munication was cut off for a while. But repairs were soon made and "we swi tch- ed to the emergency system. " The fire Departm ent recei ved a total of five calls. There was a lot of flooding. One house was struck in Whitby Town, but 1little damage was done. A house struck in Ashburn did not fare so well. The Iightning struck the house near the chim- ney and ignifed the bedroom, doing $4, 000 damage to the house. "We confined the fire to the one room and managed to save the rest of the house'", Fire Chief E. Crouch said. Barn struck, Port Perry From Port Perry came the report of a-barn being struck by lightning. After the strike the barn was on fire, which resul ted in quite a bit of damage. At the time ofwriting the exact amount of dam- age hadn't yet been determined. O. P. P. without telex The O. P. P. , Whi tby detachment was w i t hou t their telex communication for almost 12 hours. The information mac- hine "went out" at Il p. m. Sunday and themenworked on the repairing job for most of the night. It was final ly repaired andback in business shortly after 10:00 a.m. The Pickering Township Police re- ported that their Telex equipment was "off for a while", otherwise there was nodamage. The small amount of damage done in the Pickering Township area, re s u 1 t e d from the "large hail stones dent i n g i n the reflector hoods of the I ights " at the Pol ice Station and in other sections of the Township. The Whitby Detachment of the Ont- ario Provincial Police reported a great deal of flooding in the area patrolled by their officers in Pickering Township. Therewasahouse set afire by lightning in Pickering Township. It is located just west of the Brock Road north of the 3rd Concession. "Would you believe it? I slept right through that storm. I never heard a bit of it", said an Oshawa Pol ice Sergeant. He said there had been a few houses struck by lightning and there were num- erous flooded basements in the city. .4, D SAVE Noney on DI Premium Guality Fuel Gil DIOIL CAe, 668434 Un Oshawa "ilt w a s rough; r e a lly rough ", ex- ci aimed an Oshawa Fi re Department of- ficial. There were quite a few fires in the city caused by the 1lightning, he said. 7 calis Oshawa fire department "The firemen were on the go from 5 p. m. Sunday unti15:00a. m. Monday an- swering calls, as a result of the storm which began about five o'clock Sunday e v en i n g", Oshawa Fire Chief Ernest Stacey said. "There were numerous tel- evisions and stereo sets alongwith other electrical equipment blown out by the storm". The Oshawa Firemen answered sev- en calls where there was damage done tohouses and buildings. They received a dozen or more calls resulting from flooding in the area and area basements. "There were numerous false alarms, which ail had to be checked. The false alarms were due to the lightning acti- vating the alarm switches", Chief Stacey said. Due to the unreliability of the Mun- i c i p al Hydro p o w e r which was "cut- ting off for brief intervals, then com- ing back on again, the fire department switched over to their emergency sys- tem "in order to have a stable equip- ment which is so necessary in times of emergency". Brooklin department out of action The Brookl in Fire Dept. swi tchboard was "out of action for some time due to lightning", and the Oshawa Fire Dept. took their calls through the Mutual Aid Emergency System. Conclusion OshawaFireChief Stacey concluded bysaying the men at the pumping station said the rain fal i during Sunday and Mon- day morning was the most rain that has fallen in the area for some time. There was a six inch rainfall1 and the creeks in the area are very high. There were hail storms in both Oshawa and Whitby and everyone who has experienced Hurri- cane Hazel in this area say that Sun- day night's storm was the worst storm to hit since then. Itch for a FREE T-SHIRT 0 ' Free T-shirt with j every purchase of regular price pants : -at The BODY SHOP 13 PRINCE ST.ï, 564122 NOW OPEN THUR. & FRI. 'TIL 9 P.M. mu - mý.m b~