Gold Coast cyclone, February 1954

Most damage from tropical cyclones affecting Australia’s east coast occurs in coastal areas of northern and central Queensland. Occasionally, however, the severe effects of a cyclone extend south into northeastern New South Wales. One of the worst such storms struck in February 1954.

Cyclones had already caused widespread flooding in northern Queensland early in February when, on the 17th, a new cyclone moved from the Coral Sea towards the central Queensland coast. Nearing the coast, the cyclone swung south, and heavy rain and gales lashed the coast right down to the NSW border. By the 19th, it appeared that the cyclone was curving southeastward away from the Queensland coast, in keeping with the normal pattern. But cyclone movement is notoriously erratic, and it abruptly swung south again, passing within 100 km of Brisbane, and battering the capital with wind-gusts over 100 km/h.

As the eye of the cyclone crossed the coast at Coolangatta there was a brief calm, and air pressure dropped to 973 hPa. But as the cyclone moved on, the buffeting winds surrounding the eye quickly returned. In what was termed “the worst storm in living memory”, the Gold Coast area (along with parts of Brisbane and the Sunshine coast) suffered widespread structural damage. Beaches were scoured by tremendous seas, and torrential rain and storm surges combined to cause devastating flooding. On the foreshore at Beachmere, the storm surge deposited boats in tree-tops. In the Gold Coast hinterland, where mountainous terrain lifts strong, rain-laden southeast winds that sweep around the southern flank of coastal cyclones, the heavy rains were amplified further. Springbrook, on the headwaters of the Nerang River, received about 900 mm of rain within 24 hours.

The storm had lost little, if any, of its intensity, when it reached northern NSW. Near Cudgen, houses were blown apart, and trees more than one metre in diameter were twisted out of the ground. Moving inland, the cyclone passed west of Lismore, then south again towards Sydney. Torrential rain swiftly converted creeks and tributaries into torrents, and rivers rose rapidly. What was said to be a wall of water moving down the Richmond River hit Lismore early in the evening; the waters rose so quickly that many people were trapped. Some were rescued from rooftops and other refuges; some were not so lucky. Gales whipped up large waves on the swollen Richmond River, which in one place was over 11 km wide. In all, 26 people died.

It wasn’t until 1971, when cyclone “Althea” hammered Townsville and Magnetic Island in Queensland, that another cyclone inflicted serious damage on a heavily-populated area. Within three years of “Althea”, however, two more cyclones were to have a profound impact on major Australian cities.