Nobby Harris' account of the 17 June 1961 storm

Late one Saturday morning I was at home when the wind caused the corrugated iron to rattle on the carport. I climbed on to the roof and began nailing the loose iron down, but within seconds I found myself hanging on for dear life.

The wind velocity increased to gale force and before I could get inside the house, Peter Philps' carport, all in one piece, came flying over a neighbour's house and crashed down on the fence at our back door. It smashed to pieces, and tangled sheets of the iron roofing went sailing over nearby homes to disappear down into the valley.

It was the start of one of my worst experiences.

Poatina was built on a hill property named "Flat Top", and it appeared to be protected from the elements in the south by the Great Western Tiers, but not so on this occasion.

Many of the men of the village were working underground and in outlying areas, and were unaware of what was happening back home. Quite a few families and fans had gone off to Bracknell to watch our football team do battle with the locals, and others were on shopping trips to the nearby towns and Launceston. Anyone outside a few hundred metres of the village boundary was oblivious of our predicament. There were few men available to protect the remaining families and property.

Within minutes carports, open garages, sheds, parts of buildings, cottage roofing and timber were flying through the air in all directions. Vegetables, such as onions and swedes were torn from the ground and pressed against the cyclone wire fencing, and at times we were blown against fences and walls of buildings, and found it almost impossible to move. Small twigs, leaves from trees, road metal and other loose particles were flying through the air and felt like bee stings when coming into contact with the bare skin. Paint was being stripped from vehicles, but strangely, few windows of cottages were smashed.

Apparently the horrific wind storm found its way through an opening in the Western Tiers which put "Flat Top" and Poatina directly in the firing line, but left surrounding areas unaffected.

Joe Wilson, a Plant Supervisor, and I met up and worked with his landrover vehicle. We obtained all the rope that we could handle from the Main Works store and went about tying down cottage roofs and anything else that was being torn apart. Some small gangs of men were organised to fill bags with sand and arrange them on lifting roofs, and others did what they could to allay the fears of housebound families.

All through the storm word was being passed that the roofs of house after house were lifting and needed urgent attention. Late in the afternoon we received a message that "Nobby Harris' roof is going". I was pinned against a wall at the time a long way from home, and could only hope that someone could give assistance to my family. A part of the main Hall roof was torn away, the Staff House roof was damaged and the Retail Store roof disintegrated. Tarpaulins had to be somehow secured to the store and were finally lashed down to protect the goods and supplies on hand.

Joe and I had just about reached breaking point, and around 5.30pm decided that we needed a beer. We had managed to get to within a hundred metres of the canteen when suddenly part of the roof disappeared and the door slammed shut in our faces.

As time went by men returned home from work, football and shopping, and eased our workload. The storm continued into the night and caused many anxious moments, but next morning dawned fine and clear.

In the light of a new day Poatina was a sad and sorry sight, almost as though it had been torn apart by a bomb, but fortunately no one was seriously injured during our challenge.