Night of hell for one young family

It was an oppressively hot day on the 5th April, 1887 in the small Northern Queensland gulf town of Burketown situated on the banks of the Albert River, but a change soon became noticeable.

By mid-morning, around 11am, an unusual cold came through on a south-east wind bringing with it heavy rains, which didn't let up. By 2pm, the wind and rain had become incredibly violent causing massive destruction, firstly to the verandah of Hely's Carpentaria Hotel, which was blown on to the roof. Any attempt to tie down roofs with rope were to no avail, as they snapped like twine under the pressure of growing gale-force winds.

Kelly's Albert Hotel outbuildings and W. H. Young's stables were the next to suffer under the extreme weather conditions. Other houses and commercial buildings soon experienced a similar fate as verandah posts were smashed and the tin sheets of roofing and timber beams flying across the small town, causing those in any kind of shelter to stay put, for fear of being smashed by the debris.

There was a palpable fear for those in the community who were at risk of being harmed by the onslaught; among those was Constable John Higman's wife, Julia, and their two little boys. The Higmans lived in a cottage on the edge of town, near a lagoon which, under the extreme weather conditions had become an almighty river.

At 4.30pm, with no reprieve from the rain, a small group of men attempted to make their way to the Higman cottage, but as soon as they left their shelter, they were simply lifted off their feet and blown into a nearby fence.

Crawling on his hands and feet, one man managed to make it to the cottage only to find it empty. It was hoped Mrs Higman had taken the children into town and was safely ensconced in one of the stronger buildings.

Alas, it was not to be. Mrs Higman's body and that of her older son, two-year-old Hector were discovered in the light of day, after 12 hours of, what had become, Queensland's worst tropical cyclone's force. Eight month old Francis Albert was not discovered until later.

Memorial to the Higman family in Burketown cemetery. Photo: Kym Warner

Four others lost their lives that day. Not one building in the town went undamaged and a great portion of the community was submerged as the river overflowed from a storm surge. This brought hundreds of fish and jellyfish found strewn across the plain.

The telegraph line was completely destroyed and a great loss of horses and stock were also reported. Many vessels moored in the area were sunk at sea or taken off their moorings, one even landed on an inland hillock from where it had been before the storm.

A memorial to Julia and her boys was erected in the Burketown cemetery.

References

• 'Terrible Gale at Burketown', Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs General Advertiser', Saturday, 16th April, 1887, Page 6

• 'Cyclone in the gulf', The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 15 March 1887. Page 5

• 'Queensland Places - Burketown - 1887 Cyclone', State Library of Queensland, accessed 18th July, 2024, Queensland Places - Burketown - 1887 Cyclone | State Library of Queensland (slq.qld.gov.au)

• 'Destructive cyclone at Burketown', The Argus, Monday, 14th March, 2024, Page 6