Cyclone damage to the coastal area of North Queensland was officially estimated on Tuesday (28 Dec) at 25-million dollars (12 million pounds sterling).

The State Premier, Mr. Petersen, has appealed to the Federal Government in Canberra to bear the major part of rebuilding costs in the Townsville area.

The cyclone, code-named Althea, brought with it winds of a hundred miles an hour that tore roofs from more than a thousand homes.

Three people died in the storm.

SYNOPSIS: Winds of one hundred miles an hour lashed the Australian city of Townsville as Cyclone Althea wreaked havoc along the North Queensland coast. Estimates on Tuesday put damage at 25-million dollars. Three people died.

Already the State premier, Mr. Petersen, has called on the Federal Government in Canberra to bear the greater part of the cost of rebuilding in Townsville. The cyclone struck at the height of the Australian holiday season -- but in its wake hundreds of tourists have been sent home and many booked for later in the season have been told not to come. Sturdy palm trees that have stood in the city for many years snapped off as the cyclone struck -- and road signs were bent and twisted as the gales increased.

With the wind came rain -- rain that was still falling four days after the cyclone passed. Buildings at Townsville Airport were among the many wrecked by the winds. And motor vehicles were tossed about like toys.

More than a thousand homes in Townsville lost their roofs -- some were damaged more seriously and will have to be demolished.

The task of clearing up is expected to take many weeks -- but it will be many months before all traces of Cyclone Althea are removed from Townsville.