Severe Tropical Cyclone Joy struck Australia in late 1990, causing the third highest floods on record in Rockhampton, Queensland.

After turning southwest, Joy developed a well-defined eye and strengthened to maximum sustained winds of 165 km/h (103 mph) while approaching Cairns in Far North Queensland.

While drifting offshore northeastern Australia, the cyclone produced wind gusts as high as 124 km/h (77 mph) in Cairns, strong enough to cause power outages.

In Mackay, a tornado spawned by Joy damaged 40 homes, while torrential rainfall just south of the city peaked at over 2 metres (6.6 ft).

The Fitzroy River rose to a 9.30-metre (30.5 ft) peak at Rockhampton, forcing thousands to evacuate homes; some stranded individuals could only obtain food by helicopter.

In mid-December, a monsoon trough persisted along the west Pacific Ocean, spawning a pair of tropical disturbances both north and south of the equator.

[2] On 18 December, the Australia Bureau of Meteorology began tracking it, naming the system "Joy" after it upgraded the low to tropical cyclone status.

[1] While in its origins, Joy was experiencing upper-level wind shear, but as it approached the jet stream while turning to the southwest, conditions became more favourable for intensification.

[6] The storm began moving slowly off the northeast coast of Australia, passing within 100 km (62 mi) of Cairns, and the motion shifted to a southeast drift.

[2] A building high pressure area to the south caused the change in movement, and there were initial concerns the storm would loop to the west and affect Cairns again.

At 06:00 UTC on 26 December, after turning back to the southwest, the storm made landfall near Townsville, Queensland,[2] with winds estimated at 95 km/h (59 mph).

[nb 3][1] While stalling off the northeast Australia coast, Joy produced widespread gale force winds,[8] with gusts to 124 km/h (77 mph) recorded at Cairns.

[6] After the winds knocked over trees, causing power and phone outages, storm damage cut the water supply and briefly isolated Cairns due to debris blocking roads.

Heightened discharge caused extensive erosion along river channels that removed about 18 million tonnes (20,000,000 short tons) of soil and vegetation.

[17] Over 25 days, the Fitzroy River discharged about 18 trillion litres (4.8×1012 US gallons) of water into Keppel Bay,[29] reaching the Great Barrier Reef in early January and causing a drop in salinity levels.

[17] The discharge from the Fitzroy River affected various islands and coral groups, depending on the offshore wind direction and ocean current.

The water flow washed a group of freshwater turtles from the mainland to North West Island, though they were later returned to their native habitat.

[40] The floods helped fill the drainage basin of the Peter Faust Dam within a few weeks, speeding up a process which would have otherwise taken several years.

[41] Months after the storm, the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service collected reports on environmental impacts from the flooding; they included some beneficial aspects such as new locations for animal breeding,[29] and alleviation of drought conditions.

[13] The Queensland government provided monetary assistance to eligible families in the disaster zone and offered special loans to farmers affected by the storm.