Cyclone+Tracey+Darwin+1974

Cyclone Tracy.

Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated Darwin on Christmas day 1974. It was the most compact hurricane or equivalent – strength to a tropical cyclone on record in Australia. The winds were gale-force winds extending only 48klm (30mi) from the centre it was also the most compact system world wide.

Tracy killed 71 people caused $837 million in damage, and destroyed more than 70% of Darwin’s buildings including 80% of houses, and left more than 41,000 inhabitants of the city homeless. Proir to the cyclone making landfall over 30,000 people required evacuation, most of Darwin’s population was evacuated to Adelaide, Whyalla, Alice Springs and Sydney.

After the storm had passed the city was rebuilt with modern day materials and updated building techniques. Bruce Stannard of The Age newspaper stated that Cyclone Tracy was a disaster of the first magnitude without parallel in Australia history.

Preparations_ Darwin has been battered by cyclones before, in January 1897 and again in 1937. However in the 20 years leading up to Cyclone Tracy, Darwin had under gone a rapid expansion. E.P Millika estimated that on the eve of the cyclone there were 43,500 people living in 12,000 dwellings in the Darwin area. Cyclone Selma had been predicted hit Darwin one month earlier, but instead it went north and dissipated without affecting Darwin. Click on the tab below to see a map or the Northern Territory and Darwin.

Northern Queensland went through Cyclone Yasi in early 2011. Look up Cyclone Yasi on a serch engine and write up a report about it similar to this one.