By Jim Andrews, Senior Meteorologist
Mar 20, 2012; 12:52 PM ET
A storm said to be akin to a "mini-tornado" tore through parts of Townsville, Australia, Tuesday.There were no reports of injury, but the storm felled trees and power lines. Some roofs were torn off.
The state premier declared this coastal region of Queensland a regional disaster zone, the Australian ABC website said on Tuesday.
Witnesses told of sheltering in their homes, even as they were battered by high winds.
"It was very scary, but it was all over in a matter of a minute or two minutes," said Tracy Thomas, whose house said part of the roof and fence.
Premier Anna Bligh said the storm was "akin to a mini-tornado," having winds to 130 km/h (about 80 mph).
Weather observations taken at the Townsville airport showed winds to 60 knots (111 km/h) amid an outburst of gale-force winds early Tuesday morning, local time. It is unclear whether this coincided with the reported damage.
The outburst of high wind happened during an extended bout of stormy weather marked by flooding rain and squalls along much of the Queensland coast. Rainfall since the middle of last week was 250 to 500 mm (about 10-20 inches) with some spots having more than 750 mm (about 30 inches).
The storminess has likely been related to tropical low pressure that drifted ashore in northwestern Queensland last weekend. This low was still spinning over Queensland west of Townsville on Tuesday.
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