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Produced and published by the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
Published July 2008
Published July 2008
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This phenomenal and unprecedented storm at Brighton on 2 February 1918 caused severe local damage, demolishing houses, collapsing chimneys, capsizing boats, uprooting trees, blowing down telephone lines, destroying the Brighton Beach baths, railway station, and the memorial column to poet Adam Lindsay Gordon in the Brighton General Cemetery. The tornado focused on Brighton and St Kilda, the wind velocity estimated by Commonwealth meteorologist H.A. Hunt from his home in Elsternwick at over 200 miles (320 km) an hour. Two deaths were recorded.