Guide to Archives Relating to Cyclone Tracy
Cyclone Tracy virtually destroyed the town of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia, in the early hours of Christmas Day, 25 December 1974.
It was reported that during the storm 292 mm of rain fell, and at 3.05am wind gusts at the airport were recorded at 217km per hour before the anemometer recording system failed. Figures on casualties resulting from the disaster vary, and have been revised over time taking the official reported deaths to 49 individuals on land, and 22 lost at sea. 1
Following the storm, of approximately 10 000 buildings in the town, only 408 remained intact. The city was without services including lighting, power, water and sanitation. Ships foundered and port facilities were severely damaged, and debris from the suburbs cluttered the roads and pathways. 2 |
Houses in Gregory Street, Parap (opposite Toy Street) on Christmas Day, 1974 Northern Territory Archives Service, Bresnahan, Michael J NTRS 1674, Copyprints of Cyclone Tracy damage and cleanup in Darwin including East Point War Museum and Darwin Hotel, ca1974-ca1975, item 15 |
In the days following the disaster, a mass evacuation of the population was organised, under the control of Major General Alan Stretton, Director General of the Natural Disasters Organisation. Conflicting estimates exist of Darwin’s population on 24 December 1974, however EP Milliken, a former Director of the Welfare Division in the NT Administration, gave an estimate of 49,000 people living in the location with 5,500 of them being on holiday away from Darwin at the time of the storm.3
Major General Alan Stretton, states in his oral history interview that 34,830 people were evacuated 4, while Milliken reported that 25,628 people were evacuated by air, and 7,234 left by road. By 31 December 1974 only 10,638 people remained in Darwin, allowing the clean-up and reconstruction to begin.5
Holdings at the Northern Territory Archives Service relating to Cyclone Tracy and its aftermath are predominantly personal records consisting of oral histories, photographs and personal papers. There also include some Government archives and archives of non government organisations.
References
1. Odgers George (editor) The Defence Force in the relief of Darwin after Cyclone Tracy, Department of Defence Information branch, 1990. p4 and Australian Government Attorney Generals Emergency Management Australia website: http://www.ema.gov.au/www/emaweb/emaweb.nsf/Page/EMALibrary
_OnlineResources_HistoricalDisasters_CycloneTracy
2. ibid
3. Milliken, EP. People who experienced Darwin Cyclone Tracy: Human Responses in Report on Proceedings of a Research Workshop on Human Behaviour in Australia. National Disaster Organisation, Department of Defence, 1984, p. 199.
4. Northern Territory Archives Service, NTRS 226, Typed transcripts of oral history interviews with "TS" prefix, 1979-ct Stretton, Alan, TS 956
5. loc.cit., Milliken