Cyclone Tracy’s Approach

Having married Paul Boothby in Mount Isa in March 1973, we decided to travel Australia in an 18ft 6in Viscount caravan. We visited Alice Springs before heading up the track to Darwin. 

We arrived in Darwin in June 1973 and after trying to get into two caravan parks, one being Mindil Beach which was full and the other Shady Glen which did not have hot water, we settled into Bindaree Caravan Park at Berrimah. We both started work within days of arriving; Paul knew about cyclones because he had experienced them in Queensland. He got to straight away and sledgehammered four two-metre star pickets into the ground before the first wet started. 

On 3 December 1974, we had a cyclone warning and many workers came home early to prepare their properties. We did get some rain, but the main winds of Selma veered away from Darwin much to our relief. 

Then on 24 December 1974, while Paul was working in Delissaville on the other side of the Darwin Harbour (it has since been renamed Belyuen), we were given more cyclone warnings. The company allowed Paul to come home to again prepare our belongings. He travelled on very rough seas back to Darwin that afternoon. We managed to pack up the Christmas tree and other light items and stowed them in the back of our new Ford panel van, and we pulled down the annex. 

Library and Archives - NT (1975). Close up of cyclone damage. 

The Eye of Cyclone Tracy

After dinner, we curled up and went to bed thinking Tracy would be similar to Selma. But during the early part of the evening, when the wind became stronger, Paul knocked on people’s caravan doors to get them to safety in the ablution block.

Once in there, I was huddled into a shower cubical with a few other adults and a 10-month-old baby boy. By midnight it was definitely not safe to go outside. Some men were holding the main door closed to stop the wind blowing in. About 3am the wind stopped, and we came out to look around at the mess the trees had made; and the clothes on the lines all mangled. The silence was eerie. The sky was quite bright. Caravans seemed OK.

Then we heard the wind coming back. It started like a train coming and we rushed back into the ablution block. We knew this was the eye of the cyclone and we needed to brace ourselves for the onslaught of the second half of Tracy. 

Many of us were praying that the roof of the toilet block would not come off. But alas it did. With a frightening rip and bang it was gone in the same direction as our caravans. 

From then on, we just waited and hoped that our vans were OK. We were all absolutely soaked through, and I was only wearing a cotton nighty and a raincoat. The baby was still in his mother’s arms wrapped in a big blanket. Many men were standing under a huge beam that was threatening to come down on top of us as it jiggled like a piece of liquorice skewed across from one wall to the other side. 

By 6am we heaved a sigh of relief as the beam had not come down, and the wind had subsided enough for us to venture outside. At first, we just thought it was our caravan park that suffered. Turned over caravans, and trees through some windows; and not a leaf on any tree. To our shock and amazement, we could see miles away to the Coonawarra Naval Base. 

The winds were officially recorded at 217 kilometres per hour before the Bureau of Meteorology anemometer was destroyed.

Christina and Paul Boothby

The Devastation Left Behind

We had no way of communicating with others, but some people got in their cars and ventured out to see their friends. They came back with many horror stories. My boss at the time from Darwin Foundries came around to check on me and said there were many babies without formula, and he was collecting any kind of milk products we had in our possession. 

The next visit we had was from the Army saying one person from each family could be taken into town to make one phone call to tell one relative we were OK. We also got collected in an open Army truck to go into town to get inoculations for typhoid and tetanus. 

We were given fuel vouchers to gain fuel along the track as we chose to drive out of town in a convoy of caravans on the third day after Tracy hit. We were very fortunate we still had water and sewerage in Berrimah. We had a generator to keep our freezer going and Paul discovered he could play music on our car radio.

We lived on cold ham sandwiches and my baked and fully iced Christmas cake for weeks. The cake was in the middle of the caravan table and was not wet, but the bed and floor were wet as part of the ablution block roof hit our van causing $300 worth of damage. Again, lucky us.

We travelled down the track to Tennant Creek, where we were held up because of mechanical issues with our friend’s car. We had made a pact we would stay together until we got to our relevant destinations. 

It took us days to get to Mount Isa as many storms made driving hazardous. We had to wait three days for a train to get across the black soil country to Townsville. We started with two train carriages for people and dogs and many trailers for cars and caravans, but at Cloncurry, they took away one carriage, so it became very cramped. Some folk chose to sleep in their caravans on the train.

Each stop along the way we were asked if we needed anything, but we didn’t. We actually gave the Red Cross our food as it thawed out and before it was spoilt. When we arrived at Julia Creek, we were told the CWA ladies had refreshments for us. We were very grateful to them, but we laughed and laughed when they gave us ham sandwiches.

On our arrival at Townsville, we were herded into the Lavarack Barracks and had to do a roll call before they gave us a bed for the night. The Army did provide us with the biggest feed we had had for the last two weeks.

Paul and I stayed in Innisfail in his parents’ backyard for a few months before completing our Australia trip and landing back in Darwin. Paul had plenty of work as a builder and carpenter. We bought land in Nakara, built a Lockwood house and raised our two daughters. This home is said to be ‘earth tremor proof’ and it is still my home today.

Library and Archives - NT

Cyclone Tracy’s Lasting Impact

More than 70 per cent of Darwin’s homes were destroyed or suffered severe damage in Cyclone Tracy. All public services, including communications, power, water and sewerage were severed. While 41,000 people were left homeless, 35,362 people (of the 47,000 total population of Darwin) were evacuated and 66 lives were lost.

Library and Archives - NT (1974). The Stark Residence. 

Category: Features
Written: Sat 01 Mar 2025
Printed: March, 2025
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