Pastoral Area parish priest Fr Pat McGettigan said gale-force wind of 150kmh damaged the dome of St Mary's Basilica.

"Fortunately, nobody has been hurt because it probably happened in the middle of the night.' Read more

Shop manager Richard Kelly-Lowe said water came flooding in "like a river" and caused the suspended ceiling to collapse under the pressure.

Kelly-Lowe was at the front window with staff and shoppers fascinated as they watched Carlyle St become a snowscape.

Then he heard a loud crashing sound and knew something not so fascinating had happened.

"Part of the suspended ceiling came down," he said on Wednesday morning as a clean-up and power-up task got underway.

The hail fell in such volume that it blocked the guttering as well as downpipes and water started flowing down and into the walls.

The water burst through ceiling panels and flowed down the inside walls "like a river.

While the main shop area was undamaged, the water created pools in the accompanying office and a boardroom.

"There was nothing we could do," Kelly-Lowe said.

So he closed and evacuated the shop.

"We'd only had the guttering cleaned out last week."

While the stock is undamaged, Kelly-Lowe was concerned about damage to stored paperwork in the board room and would be going through it over the next few days.

"I have never seen hail like that before — it was like being in Canada or the USA — you don't expect to see that here."

The building's owner, who also has other nearby properties, said while his other buildings had escaped damage.

He had heard reports of similar guttering-blocked incidents which had caused interior damage.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: nzherald.co.nz

"This is a time to draw upon our traditional Melanesian values of sharing and hospitality, and particularly on the Christian virtues of charity, honesty and justice," said Bishop Arnold Orowae President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

"This is not a time for some to benefit from other's misfortune, but rather an opportunity to demonstrate our resourcefulness and concern for one another."

"Water flowing in rivers has its source in rain coming from the heavens. It does not belong to anyone."

"So it is wrong if some people with access to rivers charge money for those people without river access to get water. River water is for the common good."

"Likewise, now is not a time for some who are relatively unaffected by drought and frost to inflate prices for garden food or seedlings and to make a large profit from those who are less fortunate."

"Nor is it right to take advantage of people who have to leave their homes to take refuge elsewhere."

"Any form of profiteering from this tragedy is unjust and unacceptable"

"Now as PNG begins celebrations for our forty years of Independence, this is surely a time to show our resourcefulness and concern for one another."

"We have helped some needy countries which were affected by natural disasters: Vanuatu, Philippines and Haiti," said Fr Victor Roche, general Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference.

"Let us help our own brothers and sisters now. Let us raise funds for drought and frost affected people."

"Let us have a Sunday collection and give generously to those in need."

"The frost and drought are natural disasters. It is because of the lack of rain and the experts say it is El Niño effect," said Roche.

"It is also a man-made disaster: people in PNG have cut down lots of trees for mines and for export in order to get money."

"We have also created lots of bush fires."

"We all have contributed to the frost, drought and El Niño effect," he said.

Source

• wantokniuspepa.com
• wantokniuspepa.com
• Image: dailybulletin.com.au

A state of emergency has already been declared in Enga and Southern highlands.

The El Niño typically linked to dryness and frosts are often an early symptom of the phenomenon, weather experts say.

Papua New Guinea's prime minister has visited areas affected by drought and frosts as the government deploys almost US$9 million in relief funds to affected parts.

O'Neill says the government is making preparations for a potential worsening of drought conditions due to an extended El Niño and the effects of climate change.

He says the National Agricultural Research Institute has embarked on visits to affected areas to provide free crop seedlings so that people can return to gardening and start replanting crops to sustain themselves.

Ezekiel Peter the general secretary of the PNG Gutnius Lutheran Church, has been appointed to lead its just established National Committee on Drought and Frost Relief.

He's based in Wabag in Enga province, one of the Highlands provinces hardest hit by the drought which has dried up rivers, and frosts which have killed vital food gardens.

Ezekiel is urging the national government to move faster in getting emergency food relief to drought and frost affected parts of the country.

He says while some areas have food reserves, the government needs to respond much more quickly to the disaster than it has so far.

The provincial administrator in Enga Province says they are hoping a consignment of food aid sent by the national government will arrive before the weekend.

Samson Amean says while about a quarter of a million people have been affected by severe frosts many others are suffering as a result of two months of drought.

Aid workers said it was too early to assess the damage to the country's coffee industry, but added that Papua New Guinea would face a potential humanitarian emergency if O'Neil's assessment comes to pass.

"Everyone has their own garden and they rely very heavily on it for food. If their gardens are destroyed by frost or it becomes very dry because of a lack of water then there could be a significant proportion of the population in food stress," said Blossum Gilmour, CARE Papua New Guinea's assistant country director.

Source

• reuters.com
• abc.net.au
• radionz.co.nz
• radionnz.co.nz
• Image: abc.net.au