> From the WeatherWatch archives
Darwin Airport anemometer recorded 217 km/h before failing, thus denying an exact reading of Tracy’s wind strength but they were estimated to have reached 250 km/h. Destructive winds battered the city for about six hours from 1am on Christmas morning. Fortunately, a 4 metre storm surge did not cause additional flood damage as the tide was low at the critical time, and the sea wall in Darwin Harbour is high.
The cyclone caused the largest-ever evacuation and reconstruction operations in peacetime Australia. A total of 35,362 people (of the approx 47,000 population) were evacuated, 25,628 by air (15,950 in civilian aircraft & 9,678 in military aircraft) and the remaining 9,734 by road, to southern cities for many months.
On 17 March 2005, the Northern Territory Coroner ruled that six people listed as missing during Cyclone Tracy have now been officially declared deceased (perished at sea), following an Inquest into the final two shipwrecks resulting from Cyclone Tracy. The Inquest outcome increased the official death toll due to Cyclone Tracy from 65 to 71.
Comments
Before you add a new comment, take note this story was published on 31 Oct 2009.
Latest Video
VIDEO: NZ’s 7 Day Rainfall + 3 big northern hemisphere storms
We track the regions most (and least) likely to receive rain over the next week while major storms hit the…
Related Articles
VIDEO: NZ’s 7 Day Rainfall + 3 big northern hemisphere storms
We track the regions most (and least) likely to receive rain over the next week while major storms hit the…
High pressure moves closer, but showers & winds don’t ease for all (+4 Maps)
A south-west flow covers NZ on Friday with high pressure over the Tasman Sea inching closer for the weekend –…
VIDEO: High pressure flirts with NZ, we track the showers & wind
High pressure moves closer to NZ this weekend and brushes northern parts of the country next week. Despite the high…
Add new comment