1G6 



S. A. mn—Toma,loes and ITa!hlorm!< of April [No. 2, 



whicli I am sure you -will understand does not conduce to the taking of 

 correct meteorological observations. It was bitterly cold during the 

 storm and for a considerable time after it. 



1147 



(1 a.) Letter No. dated 1th May, 1888, from the Collector 



of Moradabad to the Oommissioner, Bohilkhand Division, Barielly. 



In accordance witli the instructions contained in your dated 

 5th May, 1888, I have the honour to submit a brief report regarding the 

 storm which occurred on the 30th April 1888, of the main features of 

 which His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor and yourself have been 

 already apprised. 



2. I myself only arrived in Moradabad on the 30th, so that at the 

 time of the calamity I was under the disadvantags of having no local 

 knowledge of the place. I took charge in the afternoon and about 6 

 in the evening I drove to the house usually occupied by the Collector, 

 standing on the rising ground on the further side of the race course. 

 I briefly mention what happened to myself because the house where 

 I chanced to be and the adjoining one, standing as they do on the ridge 

 of the rising ground on which the station of Moradabad is situated, 

 were the houses on which the fnrj of the storm first fell and which 

 seem to have suffered more than any others. Soon after I entered the 

 storm commenced. It became quite dark and the house was filled with 

 dust. The doors were burst open by the wind. A terrific storm of hail 

 followed breaking all the windows and glass doors. The verandahs were 

 shorn away by the wind. A great part of the roof fell in and the 

 massive pucca portico was blown down. The walls shook. It was 

 nearly dark outside and hailstones of an enormous size were dashed 

 down with a force which I have never seen anything to equal. 



3. As soon as the storm abated I went out. The race course 

 was mostly covered with water. There were also long ridges of hail 

 on the higher ground one or two feet or more in depth. The roads were 

 strewn with trees ; there were very few to be seen standing ; many of 

 the largest ones had been torn up by the roots. The roof of the first 

 house I saw had been blown altogether away, leaving only the broken 

 walls standing. The double-storeyed barracks had stood though serious- 

 ly injured, but one of the single- storey ed ones had collapsed. There 

 is not a single house in the civil station -which did not sustain the most 

 serious injury. Had the hurricane lasted a few minutes longer scarcely 

 a house could have been loft standing. But little harm comparatively 



