Remnants of Cyclone Tracy

Category: Historic

Cyclone Tracy destroyed much of Darwin in 1974. This piece of roofing iron was imbedded in a tree near the city centre. Since that time the tree has survived and is now "comsuming" the foreign object.

By late afternoon on 24 December 1974 Darwin was cloaked by heavy and low cloud and it was experiencing ever stronger rain squalls and wind gusts. By about 10 PM the winds were causing physical damage. By midnight the damage was becoming serious, and it was apparent that Cyclone Tracy was about to pass across the city. Over the next six hours Tracy substantially destroyed Darwin and killed 65 people - 49 on land, and 16 at sea.