The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-07-17 00:00:00

THE GREAT STORM AT GENEVA.

It is stated that the great storm which took place at
Geneva on the night of Wednesday and morning of
Thursday in last week, exceeded in violence and de-
structiveness any that has taken place in the district
for a quarter of a century. The two previous days
had been oppressively hot, and on Wednesday at
sunset there was every indication of the coming
tempest. The lightning, which began at about
8 p.m., became every moment more brilliant, and
lit up the whole of the surrounding country and
belt of mountains. "About 1 a.m. (says the
Swiss Chronicle) a few drops of heavy rain and
the swiftly darkening firmament heralded the
outburst. A furious wind sprung up, and in a few
seconds increased to a hurricane that brought with
it torrents of rain, and a heavy driving mist that
deadened even the glare of the constant flashes. The
hail that followed was of the most destructive charac-
ter ; the stones in many instances attaining the size of
a turkey's egg; the average pieces of ice beina as large
as a walnut, and in four or five minutes the whole face
of the country, the housetops, and various buildings
were covered, as in winter, with a broad white mantle
by the icy shower. The incessant lightning lit up the
scene, while great branches of trees, twigs, leaves, and
flying straw, with all the lighter debris and rubbish of
a populous centre, whirled and flew before the stormy
blasts. It was the height of the cyclone that lasted
fully ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. The vio-
lence of the elements roused all Geneva, crashing glass,
flying tiles and slates, inundated houses, kept the popula-
tion, roused from their first sleep, in a state of excitement
and alarm for a considerable period. To go out of
doors, until the rage of the hurricane had passed, was,
save at the risk of great personal injury, utterly impos-
sible, with the gigantic hailstones and various missiles.
About three a.m. the storm had passed on its usual
circuit round the Lake, to visit and afflict the other
lacustrine cantons. The morning sun rose on a scene
of rural desolation; trees, that the day before were
bending under their wealth of verdure and fruit,
were, in the majority of cases, scathed or lacerated
and stripped of the larger portion of their leaves and
twigs. The smaller vegetation, the vine especiallf, in
the environs of the city, have been, if not entirely de-
stroyed, terribly injured, whilst the ground crops are
laid flat and vegetables perfectly macerated by the
sharp masses of hail that fairly 1-eat the leaves of both
fruit and flower to pieces. Gardens were wrecked en
masse, conservatories, skylights and roofs appeared to
have been subjected to a bombardment, and ruin and
destruction are apparent in all quarters. The quantity
of hail that fell must have been enormous, for until late
in the day after heaps of the congealed masses were
slowly melting before the rays of the sun. There is no
exaggeration about the size of the hailstones, many even
exceeded the size before mentioned, and a mass of ice
was picked up in Carouge that exceeded 21bs. in weight.
Not a lamp-post in the city or suburbs has escaped
wholly intact; many in fact are completely wrecked in
frame, and telegraph poles and trees have either been
blown down or shivered and splintered. The Arve
and Rhone, supplied by the torrents of rain and
melted ice, roar along in now turbid flood, bearing on
their surface wood, broken furniture, and floating
household appurtenances of every nature, and an im-
mense branch or limb, a tree in itself, has drifted
across the iron supports of the Pont de l'Arve. For-
tunately the storm appears to have been extremely
localised and to have spent its fury about the southern
part of the city and suburbs. According to the latest
accounts, a herdsman is reported to have been killed
by the hail at La Capite. At Seizenove, another
village in the vicinity, a small house, with two occu-
pants, was blown down. About 50,000f5., at least, it
is estimated will be required to repair the damage to
public property."