page_title: Cyclone Althea
section_title: Coastal Queensland
hierarchical_section_title: Cyclone Althea / Impact / Coastal Queensland
caption_attribution_description: English: Damage to the Mansfield Hotel by Cyclone Althea, 1971 Cyclone althea/540009566
context_page_description: Severe Tropical Cyclone Althea was a powerful tropical cyclone that devastated parts of North Queensland just before Christmas 1971. One of the strongest storms ever to affect the Townsville area, Althea was the fourth system and second severe tropical cyclone of the 1971–72 Australian region cyclone season. After forming near the Solomon Islands on 19 December and heading southwest across the Coral Sea, the storm reached its peak intensity with 10-minute average maximum sustained winds of 130 km/h – Category 3 on the Australian cyclone scale. At 09:00 AEST on Christmas Eve, Althea struck the coast of Queensland near Rollingstone, about 50 km north of Townsville. Although early weather satellites provided only occasional glimpses into the cyclone's formative stages, its landfall was monitored closely by land-based radar that depicted an ongoing eyewall replacement cycle. Althea produced copious rainfall over central and western Queensland as it turned toward the southeast, and on 26 December the cyclone emerged over open waters. After briefly re-intensifying, the system dissipated on 29 December.
context_section_description: At the time, Althea was one of the strongest tropical cyclones to strike the coast of Queensland; it still stands as the most intense ever in the Townsville area. Gusts as high as 196 km/h (122 mph) and sustained winds of 139 km/h (86 mph) were recorded at Townsville Airport, though the anemometer was somewhat sheltered by upwind Castle Hill, so stronger winds may have occurred. The storm bent large steel utility poles and lifted houses off their foundations, while entirely stripping trees of their leaves. Pieces of dislodged debris acted as projectiles, penetrating fibre cement walls. In some cases, entire roofs crashed down on vehicles and other property. Power outages were extensive. One post-storm survey of 6,000 houses in Townsville found around 0.7% totally demolished, 1.7% with critical but repairable damage, and 13.3% with minor damage. Other estimates placed the share of damaged or destroyed houses at 60%. Several months after the storm, the Townsville City Council reported that about 200 houses had been leveled – about 1 in every 100 – with 600 more rendered uninhabitable, and as many as 4,000 damaged. Among the structures damaged or destroyed were 200 Queensland Housing Commission homes and roughly 500 of the 700 War Service Homes Commission dwellings in Townsville. Overall, Althea wrought at least $6 million in damage to government-owned buildings. The cyclone killed two people in Townsville: one man was crushed when his home collapsed, and another suffered a stress-related heart attack.
  Although the worst of the storm struck near low tide, the combination of a large storm surge and high waves caused widespread damage along the coast. Storm surge values reached 2.9 m (9.5 ft) in Townsville Harbour; the Ross River experienced a 2.7 m (9 ft) water level rise that submerged streets in the city. Shipping interests in the river suffered extensively when a barge broke free of its moorings and collided with numerous smaller vessels. An estimated peak storm surge of 3.66 m (12.0 ft) occurred at Toolakea. In addition to the surge, wave action was highly destructive. Seawalls and coastal roadways were crushed by the pounding surf in places such as the Strand and Cape Pallarenda. The violent onshore flow generated severe beach erosion from Townsville to Toolakea, while north of the storm's center, in the Greater Palm group of islands, substantial erosion resulted from southwesterly winds. Beaches receded by as much as 15.8 m (52 ft) between Pallarenda and Rowes Bay, and by up to 12 m (39 ft) at Balgal Beach near the cyclone's landfall point. Storm surge values tapered off sharply to the north of the storm centre, but remained high well to the south, with above-normal water levels extending as far south as Mackay.
  At Pallarenda, the storm surge swept vehicles off roads and inundated homes; around 40% of dwellings were rendered uninhabitable. Trees and power lines in the community were mangled, nearly every building was unroofed, and damage amounted to approximately $1 million. In Saunders Beach, wind-blown sand debarked trees and buffeted paint from houses. Althea generally dropped 145 to 200 mm (5.7 to 7.9 in) of rain in the Townsville area, much of it falling after the cyclone moved inland. As so many roofs had been damaged, many home interiors were left exposed to the elements. As a result, the deluge caused significant water damage to interior walls, electrical wiring, and personal belongings. Storage facilities at RAAF Garbutt were seriously damaged by the combined wind and rain, and four helicopters at the base were destroyed. In the weeks following the cyclone's passage, further downpours plagued Townsville and triggered flooding when storm drains clogged with debris were unable to handle the runoff. Severe flooding from Althea in the Burdekin River delta was exacerbated by rainfall from Cyclone Bronwyn in early January.
caption: Damage to a hotel in Townsville
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)"}