| Category 2 tropical cyclone
Tessi crossed the north Queensland coast about 20km south of Lucinda
at around 6 this morning, with the city of Townsville, 80km southeast,
bearing the brunt of gale force winds and a day of intense rainfall. 416mm
-- nearly a foot and a half -- pelted down between midnight and 9pm, completely
isolating the city, cutting 10,000 phone services and causing a mudslide
on Castle Hill in the city's centre. Gale force winds unroofed over 100
homes and brought down powerlines blacking out 50,000 residences.
Tessi remained slow-moving as it
crossed the coast, putting Townsville in the zone of its strongest winds
and heaviest rain to give the city a diabolical day. Rain fell relentlessly
(see the 3-hourly totals in the box below), cutting all roads into
the city. Although the highest sustained wind speed measured at the airport
was only 74km/h, wind gusts to 130km/h were reported in the press. With
roads flooded and strewn with trees and debris, police appealed to people
between Cardwell and Ayr to stay indoors, and all schools
in Townsville, Ingham and the Burdekin were closed during
today and Tuesday.
The impossible conditions forced electricity
repair crews off the road, with downed powerlines cutting electricity
to most of the city. Power was still not restored to 20,000 consumers
by Tuesday night, and was not expected to be fully restored for 3 or 4
days. Looting was widespread during the blackouts, with at least 40 businesses
and homes in Townsville suburbs broken into. Two yachts were washed up
on Strand Beach, and at least 100 houses were completely or partially
unroofed. One house was reported blown over by the wind. A landslide triggered
tonight by the heavy rain threatened 130 homes on Castle Hill, just north
of the Townsville CBD. About 100 people were forced to evacuate, but daylight
on Tuesday revealed that only 4 homes were in still in danger and at least
one inundated with mud and water. Houses were also damaged and powerlines
brought down on Magnetic Island, just off the coast from Townsville,
and at Rollingstone, 50km northwest.
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as
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