Cyclone Mahina

infobox hurricane | name=Cyclone Mahina
category=cat5
type=cyclone
formed=Unknown
dissipated=10 March 1899
highest winds=Unknown
lowest pressure=Unknown
total da

total fatalities=400-410
areas affected=Far North Queensland, Australia
hurricane season=Pre-1980 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons

Cyclone Mahina struck Bathurst Bay, Australia and the surrounding region on 10 March 1899, killing over 400 people. It was the deadliest natural disaster in Australian history.

Meteorological history

Mahina hit on 4 March 1899. Mahina was a Category 5 cyclone, the most powerful of the tropical cyclone severity categories.

Impact

Within an hour, the pearling fleet (at anchor) was either driven onto the shore or onto the Great Barrier Reef. Only 4 sailors survived and over 307 were killed. Just before the eye of the cyclone passed overland to the north a tidal wave (caused by storm surge), variously reported as either 13 metres or 48 feet (14.6 meters) high, swept inland for about 5 kilometers, destroying anything that was left of the Bathurst Bay pearling fleet along with the settlement.

Eyewitness Constable J. M. Kenny reported that a 48 ft (14.6 m) storm surge swept over their camp at Barrow Point atop a 40 ft (12 m) high ridge and reached 3 miles (5 km) inland, the largest storm surge ever recorded. [cite web|author=Jonathan Nott and Matthew Hayne|publisher=Emergency Management Australia|date=2000|accessdate=2008-08-11|title=How high was the storm surge from Tropical Cyclone Mahina? North Queensland, 1899|format=PDF|url=http://www.ema.gov.au/agd/EMA/rwpattach.nsf/viewasattachmentpersonal/(C86520E41F5EA5C8AAB6E66B851038D8)~How_high_was_the_storm_surge_from_Tropical_Cyclone_Mahina.pdf/$file/How_high_was_the_storm_surge_from_Tropical_Cyclone_Mahina.pdf]

Over 100 Indigenous Australians died, including some who were caught by the back surge and swept into the sea while trying to help shipwrecked men. Thousands of fish and some sharks and dolphins were found 15 m above sea level up to several kilometers inland and rocks were embedded in trees. On Flinders Island (Queensland) dolphins were found 15.2 meters up on the cliffs.

A memorial stone to 'The Pearlers' who were lost to the hurricane was erected on Cape Melville. The disaster is also commemorated in the Anglican church on Thursday Island.

ee also

* List of tropical cyclones
* List of disasters in Australia by death toll

Notes

References

* Whittingham, H. E., (1958), The Bathurst Bay Hurricane and associated storm surge. "Australian Meteorological Magazine" 23 14-36.

External links

* [http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/naturaldisasters Natural disasters in Australia]
* [http://www.ema.gov.au/ema/emadisasters.nsf/0/40e758f025b7a858ca256d3300057cd3?OpenDocument Bathurst Bay Cyclone and Storm Surge]
* [http://www.disaster.qld.gov.au/disasters/cyc_history.asp Australia's worst cyclone disasters - Queensland State Disaster Management Group]
* [http://www.ema.gov.au/agd/EMA/rwpattach.nsf/viewasattachmentpersonal/(C86520E41F5EA5C8AAB6E66B851038D8)~How_high_was_the_storm_surge_from_Tropical_Cyclone_Mahina.pdf/$file/How_high_was_the_storm_surge_from_Tropical_Cyclone_Mahina.pdf How high was the storm surge from Tropical Cyclone Mahina? by Jonathan Nott, James Cook University, & Matthew Hayne, Australian Geological Survey Organisation]
* [http://enc.slq.qld.gov.au/logicrouter/servlet/LogicRouter?PAGE=object&OUTPUTXSL=object_enc36ui.xslt&pm_RC=REPOMODS01&pm_OI=151&pm_GT=Y&pm_IAC=Y&api_1=GET_OBJECT_XML&num_result=1 Video: The 1899 Pearling fleet disaster] - an account by Ian Townsend. Created as part of the Queensland Stories project, State Library of Queensland, Australia. (4 minutes; Windows Media Player, RealPlayer)