Cyclone Althea stole
Christmas from the residents of Townsville in 1971 when it hammered the city on
Christmas Eve with gusts of wind up to 200 km/h.
Boats washed ashore on Palmer Street during
Cyclone Althea, 1971.
Source: Townsville City Libraries |
In the immediate
aftermath of the cyclone, Townsville residents complained they had received inadequate
warnings and information while cyclone Althea was bearing down on the city.
The manager of radio
station 4TO, Mr Oost, told the Townsville
Daily Bulletin in April 1972, that confusion and panic was caused by
various radio news services broadcasting conflicting and sometimes out of date
reports on the movement of the cyclone.
Mr Oost said that a
Brisbane radio station had broadcast superseded reports of the cyclone’s
position, and that those broadcasts had then been relayed to Townsville.
“At 10am, when the
cyclone was actually over Townsville, one report said the cyclone was expected
to cross the coast at noon, causing horror to many people who thought worse was
yet to come,” the Bulletin noted.
“The wording of some
early reports by the Weather Bureau had also confused people, and had given
them a false sense of security,” Mr Oost said.
House at Yarrawonga damaged by Cyclone Althea, 1971. Source: Townsville City Libraries. |
He cited one report that
gave the cyclone’s position as 500 miles north-east of Mackay, but neglected to
even mention Townsville, with the result that some people thought that meant Townsville
would escape the danger.
At that time, the
Weather Bureau only had access to two satellite images per day – a far cry from
the satellite technology at its disposal today. In response to the criticism the
Bureau resolved to strengthen its cyclone warning chain. Automatic weather
stations would be erected on Creel and Zodiac Reefs, between Mackay and
Rockhampton and at other locations along the coast, while another was being
considered for Holmes Reef, east of Cairns.
But the Commonwealth
Director of Meteorology, Dr W.J. Gibbs, was adamant that there would be no move
to establish a cyclone warning centre outside of Brisbane.
“The bureau has
limited staff, and if we put a cyclone warning centre in each major city along
the coast, we would have to duplicate staff,” Dr Gibbs told the Bulletin.
“We would need 30 or
40 people to run each centre, including some highly trained meteorologists, and
we see no advantage in having one in Townsville,” he said.
“We believe that the
warnings were available in Townsville from Brisbane just as often as they would
have been given from a centre in Townsville.”
“The fact is that the
people of Townsville did get 20 hours warning that they were going to get
destructive winds.”
House and car damaged by Cyclone Althea, 1971. Source: Townsville City Libraries. |
Along with an inadequate
system of weather updates, Cyclone Althea also uncovered serious deficiencies
in building construction in Townsville.
Mr R.N. Bonnett,
Federal Member for Herbert, told the Bulletin
in late December 1971 that he thought “stricter supervision of construction”
might have resulted in less damage to homes.
“Some of the houses I
visited, which had lost their roofs and suffered wall damage, disclosed the
fact that there had been a definite skimping in the usage of building
materials, such as roofing nails and screws, anchor bolts, and reinforcement
rods,” Mr Bonnett said.
But a report
commissioned by the State Government into the effects of the cyclone attributed
severe damage in Townsville generally to inadequate design, rather than poor
workmanship. The report recommended the immediate amendment of building by-laws
and appropriate specifications to meet structural requirements in cyclone-prone
areas.
Houses damaged by Cyclone Althea, 1971. Source: Townsville City Libraries. |
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