Severe Tropical Cyclone Ada was a small but intense

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depen ...

that severely impacted the

Whitsunday Region The Whitsunday Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by two previous local government areas with a history extending back to the establishment of regional local governmen ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia, in January 1970. It has been described as a defining event in the history of the

Whitsunday Islands The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands are ...

, and was the most damaging storm in the mainland town of Proserpine's history at the time. Forming over the far eastern Coral Sea in early January, the weather disturbance that would become Ada remained weak and disorganised for nearly two weeks as it slowly moved in a clockwise loop. Accelerating toward the southwest, the system was named Ada on 15 January. All observations of the fledgling cyclone were made remotely with

weather satellite A weather satellite or meteorological satellite is a type of Earth observation satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be polar orbiting (covering the entire Earth asynchronously), or ...

imagery until it passed over an

automated weather station An automatic weather station (AWS) is an automated version of the traditional weather station, either to save human labour or to enable measurements from remote areas. An AWS will typically consist of a weather-proof enclosure containing the data ...

on 16 January. The extremely compact cyclone, with a

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Category 3 severe tropical cyclone just before striking the Whitsunday Islands at 14:00 UTC on 17 January. At 18:30 UTC, Ada's eye crossed the coast at

Shute Harbour Shute Harbour is a coastal locality and harbour in the Whitsunday Region of Queensland, Australia. In the , Shute Harbour had a population of 122 people. Geography Shute Harbour is in sheltered port for small vessels located approximately 10 ...

. The cyclone made little inland progress before stalling northwest of

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

and dissipating on 19 January. Ada devastated several resort islands in the Whitsundays, in some cases destroying virtually all facilities and guest cabins. The biggest resort, located on

Daydream Island Daydream Island is one of seven islands of the Molle Islands, Molle Group, a sub-group of the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland, Australia. The island is small, measuring 1 km in length and 400 m at its widest point. The highest point on ...

, was obliterated, with similar destruction seen on South Molle, Hayman, and

Long Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

islands; since most boats docked on these islands were destroyed, hundreds of tourists in these resorts became stranded and required emergency rescue. Based on the severity of the damage, wind gusts were later estimated at . As Ada moved ashore, most homes were damaged or destroyed in communities near the storm's

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

point, including

Cannonvale Cannonvale is a coastal locality in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Cannonvale had a population of 5,716 people. Geography Pioneer Bay (part of the Coral Sea, ) forms the northern boundary of the locality. Pigeon Island ...

Airlie Beach Airlie Beach is a coastal locality in the Whitsunday Region of Queensland, Australia. In the , Airlie Beach had a population of 1,208 people. Geography Airlie Beach is one of many departure points for the Great Barrier Reef. Cruise ships visi ...

, and Shute Harbour. Extreme rainfall totals as high as caused massive river flooding in coastal waterways between Bowen and Mackay. The floodwaters washed out roads and left some locations isolated for days. Offshore, seven people were missing and presumed dead after their

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets th ...

encountered the cyclone. Ada killed a total of 14 people, including 11 at sea, and caused A$12 million in damage. The cyclone revealed inadequacies in the warning broadcast system, and served as the impetus for enhanced cyclone awareness programs that have been credited with saving lives in subsequent cyclones. In January 2020, on the 50th anniversary of the disaster, a memorial to the storm victims was erected along the shoreline at Airlie Beach.

Meteorological history

Cyclone Ada was first noted by

imagery as a disorganised area of disturbed weather over the eastern Coral Sea on 5 January. In the early stages of its life, the system was far from ships and only peripherally detected by weather stations. More recent analyses have determined the tropical low originated on 3 January, just west of

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

. For about ten days between 5 and 15 January, observations of the low remained scarce, but infrequent satellite imagery revealed that it slowly completed a cyclonic loop nearing the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

before curving back toward the southwest while remaining weak. On 15 January, the

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together ...

's (BoM) Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

named the storm ''Ada'' and issued the first warning to shipping interests. Ada reached tropical cyclone status on the modern-day Australian cyclone scale the next day, while centered near . The cyclone continued tracking west-southwest toward Queensland, and at 14:00 UTC on 16 January, it passed over an automated weather station on Marion Reef, about east of Bowen. The site recorded sustained winds of up to . With the first direct confirmation of the storm's growing strength, the BoM issued its initial public cyclone warning at 19:00 UTC. The cyclone's centre moved within range of the

weather radar Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly pulse- ...

site in

around 06:00 UTC on 17 January. Over the next several hours, radar revealed the system was moving slower and more erratically than expected, occasionally jogging to the east. Ada was an exceptionally compact cyclone, with a radius of

gale-force The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. History The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufo ...

winds, compared to the 150 km (100 mi) radius generally considered "small" for tropical cyclones. Between 11:00 and 17:00 UTC on 17 January, the cyclone's eye shrank from to just across, as measured by radar. As a result of its small size, the storm's onslaught was much more sudden than normal, with little rain and steady

barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...

s in the hours before

. At 12:00 UTC on 17 January, Ada reached its peak intensity, with 10-minute average maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h (90 mph). This made it a Category 3

severe tropical cyclone Tropical cyclones are ranked on one of five tropical cyclone intensity scales, according to their maximum sustained winds and which tropical cyclone basins they are located in. Only a few scales of classifications are used officially by the mete ...

. Beginning around 14:00 UTC, the core of Ada crossed the

. As the eye passed overhead, pressure fell to on Hayman Island—just under northeast of

on the mainland—and although peak winds were not measured, gusts on Hayman Island were estimated at over ; similar estimates were made by a ship in the Whitsunday Passage. Dent Island recorded a pressure of as the centre made its closest approach at 17:30 UTC. At 18:30 UTC, the system made landfall at Shute Harbour on the Whitsunday Coast while still at peak intensity. Air pressure at

, about away from the centre of circulation, fell to , suggesting that the storm's minimum central pressure was slightly lower. Upon moving ashore, the system slowed and curved toward the south, and after reaching a point about northwest of Mackay on 18 January, it became nearly stationary. Around the same time, the cyclone's structure began to deteriorate, with multiple circulation centres appearing on radar imagery. Just after 06:00 UTC on 19 January, the BoM issued its final advisory on Ada, and the system dissipated shortly after.

Preparations

As Ada reached North Queensland, the BoM issued cyclone warnings on a three-hour cycle, with more frequent bulletins occasionally released as needed. Flood warnings were issued for watersheds of susceptible rivers like the

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...

and Connors. The bureau's post-storm assessment of the disaster revealed that local broadcasts of advisories were sometimes delayed by several hours or not made at all, and public awareness was generally inadequate. In a misguided attempt to quell panic, one radio station appended the BoM's warning with an unapproved message that there was no cause for alarm because of the cyclone's small size. Due to the unusual nature of the storm, including its delayed arrival in some areas, many residents criticised or disregarded forecasts. Additionally, many tourists in the region were unfamiliar with the dangers of tropical cyclones. Findings from studies of the public response to Ada were used as the basis for upgraded warning systems and the introduction of more cyclone education campaigns; these initiatives were credited with saving lives and property in later storms such as

Cyclone Althea Severe Tropical Cyclone Althea was a powerful tropical cyclone that devastated parts of North Queensland just before Christmas 1971. One of the strongest storms ever to affect the Townsville, Queensland, Townsville area, Althea was the fourth sy ...

in December 1971.

Impact

Offshore, the

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

''Whakatane'' went missing while en route from Mackay to

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

. The search for the vessel and her seven occupants was suspended on 26 January, around the same time that wreckage, believed to be from ''Whakatane'', was identified near Long Island. According to the BoM, maritime tragedies during Ada were likely caused by delayed or insufficient response to warnings. Some boatowners remained aboard their vessels throughout the cyclone and others attempted to move their boats to different locations during the lull at the storm's eye. In one instance, five men were reported missing after they ventured into the storm to secure a boat anchored at Hayman Island. Overall, storm damage was estimated at A$12 million, the equivalent of over $1 billion in 2012 values when accounting for growth and inflation. Ada is believed to have killed 14 people, 11 of them at sea.

Whitsunday Islands

In the Whitsundays, Ada's impact was most severe on Hayman, Long,

Daydream Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which partici ...

, South Molle, and

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

islands. Peak winds in the storm's path were not recorded, but based on the severity of the damage, it is estimated that gusts may have exceeded . Many trees were either blown over or debarked and stripped of their foliage, with scraps of roofing material left hanging from their limbs. Throughout the islands, Ada ravaged resorts and boats, forcing hundreds of holidaymakers to await emergency rescue. Most of the accommodation cabins were destroyed on South Molle Island, where a woman in one of the structures was killed and her partner severely injured. Damage on South Molle amounted to $500,000. On Hayman Island, the winds unroofed most cabins and other buildings, accounting for an estimated $1 million in damage. Long Island was subjected to Ada's left-front quadrant—the most intense part of the storm—and the Palm Bay Resort there was devastated, with only a few huts remaining. However, another resort on the western side of the island escaped relatively unscathed. The biggest resort in the Whitsundays at the time, on Daydream Island, was destroyed, requiring $400,000 to rebuild. About 150 tourists sought shelter in part of a recreation hall, which was the only major portion of a building left intact on Daydream. Nearly every building on Hook Island was lost, and four men remained sheltered there for a week after the storm. Farther south, rough seas broke apart a stone

jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying some ...

Brampton Island Brampton Island is an island in the Cumberland Group, off shore from Mackay in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. The island lies within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, and the majority of the island forms the Brampton Isla ...

in the Cumberland Group.

Mainland

Torrential rains extended along mostly rural areas of the coast from Bowen to Mackay, while the strongest winds were concentrated in the area from

to Shute Harbor and extending inland to Proserpine. Nine hours of damaging winds unroofed or otherwise damaged around 40% of the houses in Proserpine in what was described as the worst storm in the town's history at the time. Trees were uprooted, crops were flattened, and residential

outhouse An outhouse is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry (non-flushing) toilets may be encountered. The term may also be used ...

s were blown apart. Elsewhere, in Shute Harbour, a motel and the few houses there were demolished, along with 85% of the homes in Airlie Beach and nearly all of Cannonvale's 200 houses. According to Minister for Mines and Main Roads

Ron Camm Ronald Ernest Camm (22 July 1914 – 15 March 1988) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Biography Camm was born in Emerald, Queensland, the son of Jonathan Robert Camm and his wife Tassie (née Johnson). He was educated in R ...

, the cyclone forced 750 people from their homes. Around 200 storm victims sought refuge in a school in Cannonvale that was converted into an emergency shelter. As the winds subsided, the weakening cyclone dropped as much as of rain, resulting in massive river flooding near the coast. Some locations received up to of precipitation in just 24 hours. The Pioneer River in Mackay and the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

in Bowen both experienced severe flooding; the latter overtopped a bridge by , while at one point the former was well above

flood stage Flood stage is the water level or stage at which the surface of a body of water has risen to a sufficient level to cause sufficient inundation of areas that are not normally covered by water, causing an inconvenience or a threat to life and property ...

and rising by per hour. A shopping centre in Mackay was flooded to a depth of 1 meter. Some waterways approached all-time record levels, with one creek north of Proserpine swelling to across. Many farms were inundated by floodwaters, losing livestock, machinery, and crops. The torrents washed out bridges and roads and severed communications, isolating communities such as Proserpine and Airlie Beach for several days. As a result of the widespread flooding, hundreds of motorists became stranded on a long stretch of the

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Nat ...

. Two people died in the flood-ravaged area, including one soldier who drowned near Proserpine. From Bowen north to Townsville, more modest rainfall associated with the upper-level remnants of Ada proved beneficial, helping to alleviate persistent

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

conditions.

Aftermath

Following the storm, looters traveled to Proserpine to pick through ruined homes and boats. The nine-officer police force were unable to manage the outbreak of crime, and a supplemental anti-looting squad soon arrived in the town.

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

soldiers and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

planes dispatched to the Whitsunday Islands evacuated around 500 people from the devastated resort islands. Meanwhile,

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

boats retrieved injured individuals requiring urgent medical treatment. Residents of flood-stricken communities required vaccination against

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

as a preventative measure. Private citizens also rushed to the aid of stranded resort guests; in January 2014, a local boat captain was formally honoured by MP

George Christensen George Robert Christensen (born 30 June 1978) is a former Australian politician and former journalist who was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 2010 to 2022, as the member of parliament (MP) for the division of Dawson. He ...

and Premier Campbell Newman for his role in evacuating 180 people from Daydream Island. With

's resources already strained by an ongoing severe drought, the Commonwealth Government of Australia agreed to evenly split the cost of restoring government assets damaged by Ada; this expenditure would normally fall to the state alone. By August 1970, the state and federal governments had issued a combined $708,000 in grants for repairing flood damage in Bowen. The name ''Ada'' was later

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

from the Australian tropical cyclone naming list due to the cyclone's severe impact. In the islands, about 400 workers rushed to repair the resorts before peak tourism season; by mid-May, about 100 holiday cabins had been rebuilt and 20 boats restored to service. Hayman and Daydream islands reopened to guests in June and August 1970, respectively. South Molle Island changed ownership multiple times during the 1970s as it struggled to reattain its pre-Ada success, and many of the other resort islands were also sold as their owners were unable to meet the cost of renovations. The destruction of resorts in the Whitsundays triggered a sharp decline in Australian tourism revenue. Decades later, Ada is still regarded as a "defining" event in the development of the Whitsunday region. In 2016,

Whitsunday Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the H ...

MP Jason Costigan advocated for erecting a memorial to Ada's victims, and community members formed a small committee exploring this possibility in early 2017. In April 2019, Whitsunday Regional Council voted unanimously to approve $15,000 in funding for a memorial at Airlie Beach to be completed in time for the 50th anniversary of the disaster. Finally, on 18 January 2020, a stone monument, tall and inscribed with the names of the 14 cyclone victims, was unveiled at a ceremony attended by 200 people.

References

External links

* Footage via

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"Cyclone Ada 1"
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"Cyclone Ada 2"
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"Cyclone Ada 3"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ada (1970) Tropical cyclones in Queensland Cyclone Ada Retired Australian region cyclones Category 3 Australian region cyclones Disasters in Queensland January 1970 events in Oceania