Cyclone Althea - 1971

On Christmas Eve 1971, Cyclone Althea struck Townsville with gusts of wind close to 200kph.  Three lives were lost, hundreds were injured and 500 Army personnel were recalled from leave to assist with the cleanup effort.

The suburb of Pallarenda, after Cyclone Althea in December 1971.
Photo:  CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

The suburb of Pallarenda was described in the local press as having suffered the worst of the cyclone in Townsville, with an estimated 30 to 40 per cent of homes in the suburb “write-offs”.

The North Queensland Register vividly described what remained of the suburb, saying “Althea left a shambles of smashed homes and cars, trailing power lines, torn up trees and roads.”

“Roofing iron, timber, fibro and in some cases, whole roofs, were lifted and hurled onto the houses behind them, causing a tremendous amount of damage.”

Many people felt their homes might have withstood the wind and rain, but the flying iron and timber smashed windows and roofs, allowing the wind to “play havoc with the remains.”

As one resident put it, “The house just exploded everywhere. All the second floor went.”

Damaged houses in Pallarenda, after Cyclone Althea.
Photo:  CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

The Register reported that Army engineers from 18 Field Squadron had constructed a road into the area, which was isolated from the rest of the city when heavy seas damaged Heatley’s Parade.  Electricity, water and all communication to the suburb was also cut.

Pallarenda storekeeper Mr Livio Collesel spoke very highly of the assistance provided by the Army.

“The Army have been magnificent.  They have been a great help,” he said.

“They have been supplying people with tarpaulins and transporting people across damaged roads.”

“They also delivered fresh bread and milk supplies to the people.”

Boats washed up on Palmer Street after Cyclone Althea.
Photo:  CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

Within days, the Prime Minister, Mr McMahon visited Townsville, and pledged unlimited financial aid to help restore the shattered city.  The Courier Mail reported on McMahon’s visit, describing it as a “morale building one”.

“We have put no ceiling on Commonwealth aid.  It will be in two parts, for personal hardship and for reconstruction,” Mr McMahon said.

Mr McMahon said the visit had given him “some idea of the total damage” which he said was “completely indescribable”.

“But the people you meet give you an enormous sense of pleasure to know that you are an Australian,” he said.

“They are getting on with the job.  They aren’t grouching.  They only want some help.”

Unfortunately, Mr McMahon’s pledge of “unlimited aid” was to be based on a dollar for dollar arrangement with the State government.  This meant that the federal government would contribute one dollar for every dollar given by the State, so that the funds available were actually quite limited.

Damage to a house in Heatley, caused by Cyclone Althea.
Photo:  CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

Mr John Dean, the chairman of the fund committee said that there just wasn’t enough money to go round.

“We are going to have to knock back a lot of people,” Mr Dean said.

“No one is going to get anywhere near enough to replace what he has lost,” he said.

Mr Dean said most grants were likely to be around $100, with the maximum grant amount set at $1000.

In the face of so many appeals for grants, those earning more than $90 a week were immediately deemed ineligible to receive any assistance.

Eighty per cent of the $150 000 fund was shared between pensioners and those whose weekly income was less than $50.

The total amount claimed by people seeking help from the fund was $2 million.

Old Quarantine Station - Pallarenda

In the 1880s a quarantine station was established at West Point on Magnetic Island for the purposes of isolating sick passengers on passing ships.  This station was damaged by severe cyclones Sigma in 1896 and Leonta in 1903 and owing to a lack of water and the difficulty of the distance from the mainland, the government decided to build an alternative station on the mainland.

Former Quarantine Station, Pallarenda, Townsville, 1976.
Photo:  CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection

The new Quarantine Station built at Pallarenda commenced with the construction of a timber jetty, which was completed by early 1914.  Over a period of seven months, commencing in November 1915, buildings at West Point were systematically dismantled and the building materials transported by barge from Magnetic Island to the mainland, for re-use at the Pallarenda station.  

Buildings that were moved included the hospital building, the married quarters, the hospital kitchen and the dining room.  These buildings had new functions at the new Quarantine Station at Pallarenda, which was in use by 1917.

Although materials from the old station at West Point were used at Pallarenda, new buildings were also constructed at the Pallarenda station, including a Disinfecting Block.  This building had tram tracks running through it.  Luggage was brought from the jetty on a trolley via the tracks through to the disinfection block where it was fumigated.  In contrast, the quarantined passengers had to walk from the jetty to the bath house, where they showered and changed.

Passengers were segregated according to the same class system that had divided them on board their ship.  There were separate quarters for men and women and the first and second class passengers had separate living and dining facilities.  In keeping with the racial attitudes of the day, there was a separate area for Asian passengers.  Housed in what was called the “Asiatic Shelter Shed”, these passengers slept in hammocks suspended under a shed with a concrete floor. 

The station was put to good use in the early part of the twentieth century, particularly during the Spanish Influenza epidemic in 1919 and during sporadic outbreaks of bubonic plague that occurred until the early 1920s.

Signage at the former Quarantine Station, Pallarenda.
Photo:  Trisha Fielding. 

In August 1920 the steamer Roberto Figueras was on its way to Noumea when it arrived in Cleveland Bay carrying 1000 Vietnamese, 32 of whom were ill with suspected typhus.  Those who were sick were transferred to the quarantine station, while all others remained on board the ship, which took in supplies of coal and fresh water while it sat idle. 

The illness turned out to be meningitis, and 13 of those who had fallen ill, died at the station, and were buried there.  These were the only deaths to occur at the quarantine station during its use.        

During World War II the Quarantine Station continued its quarantine function, whilst also being used as an army hospital.  At this time a number of fortifications were built nearby, including two gun emplacements, two searchlight installations and a command post. 

The remains of WWII fortifications, Pallarenda.
Photo:  Trisha Fielding.

In 1974 the newly-formed Australian Institute of Marine Science moved into the site, bringing six temporary laboratories with them.  AIMS relocated in 1977 and in 1986 the area became an environmental park.  The Department of Environment and Resource Management have also been housed at the site.