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It's been 50 years since Cyclone Althea struck Townsville on Christmas Eve, leaving a trail of devastation

Allan Porter documented the damage to the Strand in Townsville after Cyclone Althea struck on Christmas Eve, 1971. (Supplied: Allan Porter)

On Christmas Eve in 1971, while the country was wrapping presents to put under the tree, broadcaster Allan Porter clocked on for a day of work that would shape the rest of his life.

Cyclone Althea had formed off the coast of Townsville in North Queensland days earlier and winds were picking up as Porter headed to the ABC studios at 5am to begin emergency broadcast coverage.

That day the cyclone would go on to hit the Townsville coast as a category three storm, causing $50 million ($559m today) in damage across the region and leaving three people dead.

Boats in the harbour stood no chance against Althea. (Supplied: CityLibraries Townsville, Local History Collection)

Porter had moved to Townsville about two years earlier to take up a job as journalist, but was yet to experience an intense storm.

"We were all there in the building," he said.

"It was actually quite frightening, because it was the first cyclone that did any damage.

"There had been so many cyclones that had wandered down the coast, but they always disappeared.

"But Cyclone Althea … did the damage."

Allan Porter says he will never forget the sounds of sirens blaring as the storm approached Townsville.  (ABC News: Greg Heap)

With emergency sirens blaring and wind howling, Porter was eager to catch a glimpse of the storm.

"We just had to sneak a peek and had a look at Wickham Street outside from the window," he said.

By 8:15am power had been cut, and Porter and the team relayed emergency information by phone to Brisbane. 

The team at the ABC Radio station did the best they could to send out information while the storm raged on. (Supplied: Allan Porter)

Eye passes leaving scenes of chaos

After the weather had cleared, Porter jumped on his motorcycle armed with a camera to survey the damage.

It was worse than Porter had expected.

Nearly 200 Townsville homes lost their roofs; on nearby Magnetic Island around 90 per cent of buildings were destroyed.

Families in Townsville faced months of life living under tarpaulins while they rebuilt their homes. (Supplied: CityLibraries Townsville, Local History Collection)

"There were solid built areas that were just gouged and ruined," he said.

Porter said it was the 3-metre ocean swell that devastated Townsville’s iconic waterfront strip, The Strand, and Cape Pallarenda, north of the city, that most shocked him.

Pallarenda, which was established in 1915 to quarantine passengers on incoming international ships, was also where Porter lived.

"Not only was it thought to have been much closer to the centre of the cyclone when it crossed the coast, but it was also prone to wind funnelling across Cleveland Bay," he said.

Porter's house was one of many in Pallarenda to sustain significant damage. (Supplied: Allan Porter)

While Porter had been in the ABC newsroom, the roof had blown off his own home.

Townsville spends Christmas digging deep 

Among the rubble, people still found something to celebrate.

"I remember meeting someone who said they'd just had a marvellous barbecue," Porter said.

"A cold store somewhere in the west of Townsville had low power and everything in it had to find a home, and those who were close by suddenly found themselves with interesting things to put on the spit."

A popular park at the Strand was unrecognisable after Althea blew through.  (Supplied: CityLibraries Townsville, Local History Collection)

The wait for repairs was long, so Townsville settled down under tarpaulins and turned on generators as it waited a year for repairs.

A turning point

Cyclone Althea sparked an overhaul of the region's building standards, but industry experts say they are continually learning.

Three years after Althea hit, Cyclone Tracey prompted changes to building regulations and, in 1977, a cyclone research centre in Townsville opened.

Researchers now work full time testing building materials to minimise damage from cyclones.  (ABC North Queensland: Zilla Gordon)

James Cook University Cyclone Testing Station engineer David Henderson says he spends his days scientifically pulling houses apart

Dr Henderson uses a 22-metre-long wind tunnel with a fan stretching 2 metres in diameter to recreate cyclonic pressure on miniature structures. 

"So, you can imagine if we need that 2-metre fan just for a [small] model, you can imagine how big the fan would have to be if we were doing a full-sized house," he said.

Dr Henderson said at the time of Althea, roofs which were just nailed together; they are now connected via approved bolts and straps adjoined to homes' foundations.

Experiment at JCU cyclone testing station (Supplied: Paul Lyons)

Disaster studies coordinator Yetta Gurtner said preparedness was also about people's mindsets.

“There's a lot more information out there; there's almost too much information, so where the public to get credible information is particularly problematic," she said.

Dr Gurtner noted Townsville's transient population meant many people had never experienced a cyclone.

"Cyclone Althea was 50 years ago; public memory is limited in that context," she said.

This fan is part of the specialist equipment used to improve safety standards for cyclones. (ABC North Queensland: Zilla Gordon)

Cyclone Seroja made landfall last year, only 250 metres north of Perth, damaging 70 per cent of buildings in the towns of Kalbarri and Northampton. 

Master Builders Queensland manager Tony Mitchell said building standards were continually changing.

While buildings north of Bundaberg, in central Queensland, were currently built to withstand cyclone conditions, Mr Mitchell said there was talk those standards could be extended south to the New South Wales border. 

Weather patterns brings ideal conditions for storms

Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Laura Boekel said the current La Niña weather pattern meant more cyclones were likely for north Queensland. 

"The average for the coral sea is four tropical cyclones in the sea with at least one of those crossing the coast (annually)," she said.

About 600 soldiers were called in for the recovery efforts. (Supplied: CityLibraries Townsville, Local History Collection)

In the 50 years since Althea hit, Ms Boekel said tools of the trade meant it was now much easier to track a storm's path.

"Because cyclones can form so far out in the ocean, we use a lot of satellite imagery," she said. 

"It's also the frequency, we get a new satellite image every 10 minutes now, which never would have happened a decade ago."

For Porter, the expedience of Althea has followed him through a career stretching decades.

"Many of us had our grounding in broadcast in Townsville," he said. 

"There's a brotherhood of us who get together and discuss these things."

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