Cyclone Tracy: 50 Years On

[@trenchy1990]

My uncle was living in Darwin when it happened. He survived under a mattress in a bathtub. The only thing salvagable with no damage was the fridge. He still has that fridge as a reminder of good luck surviving such an experience.

[@ChrisStumer]

Dad was aged 22, he and three others had to hold down a dining room table they sheltered under to stop it being carried away, the house which was of the current type low set brick was completely destroyed. Sheets of roofing iron flew past, bricks, household appliances, all sorts of debris crashed on and around the table. The airport during the mass evacuation, a huge U.S. Air force Lockheed Starlifter, a long line of people lined up waiting to board, occasionally someone would collapse from the heat and lack of food and a paramedic with a medical kit went rushing up to assist. Dad watched a TAA Boeing 727 take off at maximum weight, engines howled at maximum, the airplane used almost every inch of runway, he'll never forget it,

[@area51isreal71]

I went through Cyclone Althea in Townsville in 1971. The sound of them stays with you forever.

[@paulschimmel1099]

Grew up in TSV through quite a few cyclones, will have to say Yasi was the longest night of my life...

[@tracyboswell9333]

I was born 2 days before it hit Darwin, My parents had already named me Tracy so I will never forget it

[@edwardcatton1047]

R.I.P TO ALL LIVES LOST!, Never Knew You DAD!, but, Always!, in my Heart!, God Bless!.

[@johnblyth9787]

I was just 19 and clearly rember several of our family meeting up to watch the TV news, posibly Boxing Day or maybe December 27th. At the time I did not understand a cyclone. Howeever I can never forget the deverstation. For all who went through it in Darwin, I just cant begin to imagine the hart ache. Sending a message of love to All who were affected, especialy those who lost family and friends. ⚘️❤️⚘️❤️⚘️❤️⚘️

[@KurtBoulter]

I was 7 when Tracy hit & our family went up to Darwin two weeks after it hit. The devastation was something I will never forget. They had cleared the airport runway obviously & a few of the main streets. We watched air conditioners choppered off the roofs of the high buildings. Guys were collecting cartons of Stubbies, since the pubs could not sell the water damaged stock. We stayed at the Tiwi motel, who was running a generator to keep the freezers cold. We stayed there for a few days before heading to Gapuwiyak (Lake Evella) in Arnhem land! Most of what was left of the houses, were the stilts which most houses were built on to keep them cool or the slabs of concrete! It must have been terrible to be there when Tracy when through!

[@AnitaClayton-f8g]

Yes this is my home my town and still to this day we don't forget the. loss we went thru

[@Oldbutnotout65]

Still makes me cry. It's 50yrs ago this year, just so incredibly sad.

[@markm7441]

I was 7, in Sydney I remembered the telethon.

[@paulfomin8945]

My dad was lucky, he left 3 days before 🙏

[@stevepierce3509]

Try living through Cyclone Larry in 2006 a Cat 4/5 in FNQ. With Spec built homes and watching them destroyed. Then 5 years later after a rebuild Cyclone Yasi in 2011 a Cat 5. This was a life changer for myself and a matter of Survival being alone in my House that was destroyed. The noise is engraved in my head Forever and fear of the unknown is a thing that only people that have lived through these circumstances will only ever understand. So I feel for all and completely understand all of you involved going through Tracy. Which I now live in Darwin.

[@mpcoulso]

I was 12 living in Cairns for Larry, my dad is tough as nails and apart from his dog dying I’ve never seen him cry, Larry was intense, I remember visiting Innisfail and Cardwell/Tully a few weeks later, nothing left

[@paulschimmel1099]

Grew up in the 80s as a kid in TSV and went thru a few good ones but Yasi was the longest night of my life by far...

[@suefraser3611]

Holy crap I'm old. I was two....

[@traceymenadue6494]

Even though I live I. Adelaide I was only 7 years old when this happened

[@NellyR]

I pray i never get to hear those sirens 🚨

[@VanessaKernaiua]

My Mother's best friend broke down in her car on Bagot Road, so she got out of the car and fought her way through Cyclone Tracy all the way to Parap. Strong, determined womqn.

[@istp1967]

Those twisted steel girders are out front of my old Highschool. We bunkered down at my Aunty Winnie's house; it was a double brick house, so the walls held up, but we watched in horror as half of the roof was ripped off. And the house was shaking like in an earthquake!

[@GM-qq1wi]

16:16 does anyone know what the fogging machines were used for?

[@ryanbrown2550]

I think one of the reasons it did so much damage was because in 1974, houses in northern Australia weren't built to survive cyclones. I'm pretty sure the building regulations were changed in the late 70s after the massive one that hit and wiped out Townsville in the late 70s. 💯

[@jname9368]

I think even with modern day structures it'd have been just as deadly and destructive. The wind gusts in tracy were somehow on par with landfall measurements from Category 4-5 Hurricanes

[@ChristopherJewels]

@@jname9368 I think TC Althea hit Townsville in December 1971? Also TC Ada in the Whitsundays in 1970 was an initial wake up call to Queenslanders about the need for better building codes. With Larry in 2006 and Yasi in 2011, both cat 5, the new building codes were put to the test and passed overall.

[@merlenehendry-silver7741]

⁠​⁠@@ChristopherJewelsI was on Magnetic Island when Althea hit on Xmas Eve into Xmas day. Terrifying!

[@C21L01]

1985 before it was made federal law that ALL structures in Cyclone prone areas must be built to withstand the extreme severe eye-wall winds of a high-end C-5 strength Cyclone. It actually took 11 years after Tracy to implement this law at the federal level to make sure everything across the board was the same standard. Tracy had to have been at her worst in those eye-wall winds, a C-5. The only reason she was declared a C-4 is because the measuring equipment was destroyed at the sustained wind speed of 274km/h and that was not the eye-wall. 😳

[@ChristopherJewels]

@@jname9368 Meteorologists are fairly certain that there were several tornadoes embedded in the eyewall of Tracy. No building code can withstand 350 km per hour winds. The eyewitness accounts of the roar of a train approaching and all the twisted steel and toppled concrete poles suggest it was more than a category 4 cyclone. Also the northern suburbs were hit much harder than the southern suburbs, with some streets obliterated and others nearby almost untouched.

[@SharonWoods-i8w]

I will never forget this tradgety i was 13 My dad said no christmas in darwin cyclone blew it away i cryed

[@VanessaKernaiua]

My Mother's best friend broke down in her car on Bagot Road so she got out of the car and fought her way through Cyclone Tracy all the way to Parap. I want her to record her story.

[@TheGrundycounty]

Just lovely

[@nonamerooster5413]

My mum remembers when she had evacuees in Wentworthville from Darwin.

[@AnitaClayton-f8g]

It took ten years to rebuild but we have done it come and visit our home today you will be amazed at our resilience

[@nathanroberts355]

My dad was with the Australian army security forced in Darwin December 1974 before 1942 my grandfather John Roberts was a telegraphist in Darwin post office during the second world war of bombing of darwin 19th February 1942

[@lauran1212]

ALL BY DESIGN....

[@Vineriafr]

I came to see if anyone else was in the know 😭

[@az-yq3rk]

@lauran, 'only' 60 people died, what did anyone/govt/swamp get out of it?

[@az-yq3rk]

@@Vineriafr what's to know? Whitlam didn't seem keen to rebuild?

[@GailSiebuhr-de6sb]

Remember being aware of a cyclone coming in the top end totally astounded when the news came through on Christmas Day 😢😢. Move on to 28th a wedding. Wedding day wet, but other than that, it was a great day, but it became a disaster as well.

[@ThomasAtkinson-jz6pj]

Souded like hell

[@jeffkeenan5439]

Waiting for SKY to blame labor

[@YokRzeznic]

Or the Greens like they do with any bushfire

[@Maria-io8ii]

I think Tracy needs to come to kalgoorlie WA to wake these idiot kids up... So sad looking at what happened in Darwin I'm trying to hold my 😢😢😢 back so sad

[@WendysCove]

I recall this every year by choice they weren't given 1.... 😅

[@Magaman22]

Under 30s say whats a Darwin? Is that it Taylor Swift Lyric?

[@YokRzeznic]

Under 30's are smarter than that. Smarter than you, for sure.

[@Al-kb2xl]

I don’t believe in God but some higher power was definitely looking after them. It’s incredible that the death toll was so low

[@annistopi8968]

😂😂😂😂

[@dalesmith4985]

Something wrong with you to laugh at this

[@ron7926]

Aborigines died also, are you lauging at that

[@YokRzeznic]

bot account