
Kew Croquet Gives Gateball a Go

It was forecast to be destructive and it certainly was. I visited the club around 40 minutes after the storm. The lawns were covered to 50cm with leaves and twigs from surrounding deciduous trees, battered and dead ducks sat amongst it, the clubhouse verandah had huge holes in the roof as did the entire roof of the main building.
The lawns have been significantly pock marked by hail with holes the width and depth of golf balls so will be out of play for some time.
The clubhouse roof has been very severely damaged (ie a number of holes in tiles; vast numbers of cracked tiles; painted veneer protecting tiles has been shredded), the verandah awning has been smashed; and there are a couple of broken windows.
Because of the damage to the roof there has been some seepage of moisture into the roof cavity. It is closed until further notice. The tiles, which contain asbestos-containing materials also create a health risk.
The nearby yacht club suffered major damage to windows and boats, with forty dead seagulls and all cars in the area suffered broken windscreens and dents. The hail damaged our large organic garden – shredding tomato, zucchini and pumpkin leaves. I have not heard of any member’s house damage. The storm area was extremely limited to a narrow swathe from Belconnen, through the CSIRO, ANU, Museum, Parliament House to Fyshwick.
Judy Tier
Canberra Croquet Club