Nhill and the 1897 cyclone

"Friday November 19th 1897 will live in the memory of every Nhill resident till the longest day of his life by reason of an event unprecedented and almost unparalleled in the district, aye, and even the Colony."
Before the Storm, for several days intense heat had prevailed averaging over 100 degrees in the shade. Friday opened quietly, though early in the morning the wind began to rise, and, increasing in violence as the day advanced, raged at hurricane force during the afternoon, and the air was filled with dust. All wished for the trying weather to culminate in a thunderstorm. These hopes were realised when about 4 o'clock, banks of cloud rose slowly above the horizon in the northwest. The firmament had a lurid portentous appearance which deepened as the general canopy of heaven became obscured. The whole sky assumed this red and hazy hue, imparting a terribly weird and ominous appearance. Shortly before 5 o'clock these strange elemental phenomena increased to become positively awe-inspiring and a premonition of coming disaster struck the hearts of the inhabitants. Just on 5 from out of the lurid heavens a rapidly revolving and fast approaching white circular column was observed, it burst upon the town with all it's roar and fury with overwhelming force - huge buildings were lifted bodily and thrown shattered to the ground, some avere that fire balls played over the store and burst like incandescent bomb shells, the rain came down in torrents and vivid lightning played with dreadful menace. After a most fearful 15 or 20 minutes the violence decreased, but the town presented a truly dilapidated and desolate appearance, and great were the lamentations when the full extent of the damage was ascertained.
The main street had evidently suffered most, the east side of Victoria St was so terribly battered and partially demolished as to almost unrecognisable, not a verandah was left standing, many shop fronts were bashed in, and doors and windows were literally "nonest".
Kozminsky's Commercial Hotel, standing right on the corner evidently was hard hit, but, being the splendid edifice it is, it withstood the force of the cyclone gallantly, though the brick work ridging was blown in, and a large portion of the roof through which the raion poured.
 

The east side of Victoria Street - the red brick Commercial Hotel (left) & billiard room, Smith's fruit shop, Harris' store, Commercial Bank (centre)

M. Harris' general store received terrible damage and the front portion demolished while stock was badly damaged. Mr T. Smith's fruit shop (Formed a portion of Harris' building) suffered. The Commercial Bank was very severely hit, the upper portion being rendered unsafe (the windows gave in at the first blast and the windswept with hurricane fury demolishing the furniture and lifting the doors from their hinges. Masses of plaster and bricks fell in, and altogether the interior was in a most deplorable condition).

The west side of Victoria Street - Terry's chemist (left), Bree's boot shop, and the remains of the Farmer's Arms billiard room.

The Farmer's Arms Hotel (on the corner) and its outbuildings were pretty well destroyed, struck with awful force, portions of the roof and sides were lifted and dashed against the other side of the street with destructive force. The adjoining billiard room lay in ruins, and Bree's boot shop and Terry's chemist shop were both terribly knocked about.

In Nelson Street - Ryan & Bond's large auction rooms had not a single spar left standing, all being totally wrecked, the whole row including 2 empty shops, office, Wheare's coach-building factory & O'Dougherty's bakery were destroyed.

Amazingly, a providential preservation of life marked the whole event, but there were many narrow escapes and serious accidents. Mrs Graham with her child in her arms opened her door to the full blast and both were whirled right out of the place, carried over the sand hill, and when she regained her senses she was still grasping her infant 150 yards from the house (the child was so greatly affected it did not recover consciousness for a long time). J. Nealy the blacksmith was working at his forge when the whole place was blown about his head and the stripper he was repairing was blown over the top of him, pinning him to the ground with a broken leg and dislocated ankle.
Text from "Nhill & the 1897 cyclone", and photos from "Nhill's fabulous century".