The Storm that changed Australia

On Christmas Eve 1974, one of the most devastating natural disasters in Australian history struck the city of Darwin. This event was Cyclone Tracy, a powerful tropical cyclone that left an indelible mark on the city and its people. Cyclone Tracy's fury and the subsequent efforts to rebuild the city are a testament to human resilience in the face of nature's might.

Cyclones are a large-scale air mass that rotates around a strong centre of low atmospheric pressure. In the Southern Hemisphere, cyclones like Tracy rotate clockwise, but on the northern side of the equator, they rotate anti-clockwise. Cyclones are massive storms that can bring heavy rain, strong winds, and storm surges (which means extra-high tides). They can cause massive damage, as the residents of Darwin found out in 1974.

Cyclone Tracy began forming on December 20, 1974, over the Arafura Sea, to the northeast of Darwin. Initially, it was just a tropical low-pressure system, but by December 21, it had intensified into a tropical cyclone. Cyclones are classified into categories from 1 to 5, with Category 5 being the most severe. Tracy was a Category 4 cyclone when it made landfall.  Few people were prepared for Tracy. Two weeks earlier a different cyclone, named Selma, had come, and gone without any ill-effects, and people were more interested in celebrating Christmas than battening down their houses. Although there were several warnings, most of the people of Darwin did not evacuate or prepare for the cyclone.

Then, Cyclone Tracy reached Darwin. The city had experienced cyclones before, in fact it was destroyed by them in 1897 and 1937, but nothing could have prepared its residents for what was about to happen. Tracy was a ‘nasty little cyclone’ that was relatively small in size, with a diameter of about 48 kilometres, but it was extremely intense. Wind speeds were recorded at 217 kilometres per hour, but some estimates suggest they could have been as high as 240 kilometres per hour (150 miles per hour). We don’t know exactly because the anemometer at the Bureau of Meteorology broke in the high wind.  The cyclone struck in the early hours of Christmas Day, causing catastrophic damage.  Buildings were torn apart, power lines were downed, and trees were uprooted. The sound of the wind was described as a roar, like a freight train passing by. People who sought shelter in their homes found themselves exposed as walls and roofs were ripped away.

Many houses had nothing left except the elevated floor – these were soon to be called the ‘Darwin dancefloors.’ Thousands of people were injured – many were cut by flying debris like corrugated iron. Some were sand blasted by the wind. Sixty-six people were killed - 45 died on land and 21 died at sea.

By dawn, much of Darwin was unrecognizable because of the overwhelming destruction. Approximately 70 percent of Darwin’s buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, including most of the homes. The city’s infrastructure was in ruins, with no electricity, water, or communications.  In the immediate aftermath, the response was swift. The Australian government, led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, declared a state of emergency, and initiated a massive relief and evacuation operation. Over 20,000 people, about two-thirds of the city's population, were evacuated to other parts of Australia by plane. This was one of the largest airlifts in Australian history. Another 10,00 people jumped into cars and trucks that were still drivable, and headed south, down the Stuart Highway.

The city then needed to be rebuilt. It was a monumental task that took several years, overseen by the Darwin Reconstruction Commission. Strict building codes were introduced to ensure that future cyclones could not be so destructive. One simple improvement was the introduction of screws to hold down corrugated iron roofing sheets, rather than nails.

Today, Darwin is a modern city with buildings designed to endure the harsh climate of northern Australia. Cyclone Tracy was Australia’s worst natural disaster, and it remains a significant event in Australia's history. People still talk of life ‘before Tracy’ or ‘after Tracy’.

The cyclone taught many valuable lessons about disaster preparedness and response. The importance of early warning systems, robust infrastructure, and effective emergency management became clear. Advances in meteorology and technology have since improved the ability to predict and prepare for cyclones, and this will save lives and reduce damage in future events.