Debbie

History

Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie originated as a tropical low over the Coral Sea near Papua New Guinea's Louisiade Archipelago on 23 March 2017, and was classified as a named tropical cyclone on 25 March. The system intensified steadily as it tracked southwestward toward Queensland, rapidly deepening from Category 2 to Category 4 in just 12 hours beginning 27 March. At its peak, Debbie sustained winds of 175 km/h and a central pressure of 949 hPa. The cyclone passed over the Whitsunday Islands before making landfall near Airlie Beach at around 12:40 AEST on 28 March as a Category 3 system, where gusts on Hamilton Island reached 263 km/h.

After landfall, Debbie weakened rapidly as it moved inland, degrading to a tropical low by late 28 March. Its remnants tracked southeast, delivering extreme rainfall — exceeding 1,000 mm over 48 hours in some areas — and causing severe flooding across South East Queensland and the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. Power outages affected at least 63,000 properties, and widespread structural damage occurred across communities including Bowen, Airlie Beach, and the Whitsunday Islands. In total, Debbie resulted in fourteen deaths across Australia and caused approximately A$3.5 billion in damage, making it the costliest Australian cyclone since Yasi in 2011 and the deadliest since Cyclone Fifi in 1991.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia