Townsville’s tornado terror
A look back at significant moments in the North’s history
IT could take Townsville several weeks to recover from the effects of a freak tornado that ripped through the city in just 10 minutes early this morning.
The short-lived supercell storm, which struck just after 5am, ravaged homes and businesses in Vincent, Pimlico, Aitkenvale and Garbutt, creating the kind of destruction weather experts say was akin to that caused by Cyclone Yasi last year.
But unlike a cyclone, there was no warning for residents to bunker down.
The tornado bore down on sleeping residents and tore roofs, walls and awnings from homes, and flattened timber garden fences.
It sent missiles of steel and timber spearing into the interior and exterior of walls of houses inside which people, drowsy with sleep, were taking what protective measures they could to stay out of harm’s way.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded an official wind speed reading of 111km/h at Townsville Airport, however weather experts estimated it could have peaked at 178km/h in worst-hit areas.
One person was hospitalised with head injuries while two others were treated for minor injuries.
The damaging winds blew apart the roofs of about 60 homes, including some whose roofs were peeled off and blown away.
The clubhouse of Townsville Centrals in Anne St was one building that suffered extensive damage, and residents woke in Vincent to scenes reminiscent of a war zone, with homes ruined, cars smashed by trees and backyard items such as trampolines blown several hundred metres away.
About 6500 homes were without electricity in Vincent, Pimlico, Aitkenvale, Mundingburra, Currajong and Garbutt.
Shredded powerlines along Fulham Rd draped over yards like black spaghetti as residents began the arduous task of cleaning up.
Ashton St resident Tereena Mccombe had her ceiling cave in on her bedroom and would have been killed if it were not for her son’s dog, whose barking drew her outside during the height of the storm.
Her roof was completely blown off and her hallway became an explosion of glass and wood.
‘‘The roof fell on my bed,’’ she said. ‘‘Lucky I was out of the bed, otherwise I would have been dead.’’
Ms Mccombe said her whole house had moved 30cm on its foundation.
‘‘It felt like being in a washing machine without water,’’ she said.
‘‘It was loud.
‘‘We had no warning, we know what was going on.’’ didn’t
Friends and family flocked to the old weatherboard house within an hour to help remove her belongings.
Ms Mccombe did not have the contents of her public housing property insured.
Her neighbour across the street,
Steve Salmon, lost half his roof. He was woken up by a huge crack of thunder before the full force of the wind struck.
‘‘I just raced out the front here, trying to shut the windows and curtains,’’ he said.
‘‘It was just an eerie sound that blew through.
‘‘I just hit the floor. My missus was crying her eyes out in the bedroom. ‘‘The roof started leaking.
‘‘The living room looks like swimming pool at the moment.’’
Queensland Fire and Rescue Service northern region assistant commissioner Ron Twomey said it would take weeks for the city to clean up from the tornado.
‘‘It’s very much like a cyclone in a small area,’’ he said.
‘‘There’s going to be many weeks of restoration required.’’
Mr Twomey said, mercifully, there was minimal human cost from the small-scale disaster.
In true North Queensland style many are looking on the bright side that no one was killed and are showing more concern for their neighbours than themselves.
But it will be a long time before Vincent residents forget the night their homes were torn apart. a