Cyclone Mahina

In 1899, one of the most intense cyclones ever recorded smashed into the Queensland coast and killed more than 300 people. Cyclone Mahina destroyed the Thursday Island pearling fleets and is credited as being the world's highest storm surge.

Join journalist Ian Townsend as he explores some of the myths and misconceptions about this cyclone, revealing stories of the people who were there.

Ian is a journalist with ABC Radio National, producing radio documentaries for Background Briefing. He's won three Eureka Science Prizes and a Human Rights Award for journalism, and written two novels. His recent novel, The Devil's Eye, based on the Bathurst Bay pearling fleet disaster of 1899, was research with a fellowship at the State Library of Queensland's John Oxley Library and went on to be long-listed for the 2009 Miles Franklin Award.

This was an Out of the Port free lunchtime talk, presented by State Library’s John Oxley Library and the Department of Environmental and Resource Management.

When: Wed 19 Oct, 2011. 12.30pm
Where: slq Auditorium 2, level 2, State Library of Queensland
Duration: 01:09:32 hours