Tracy and Marcus
On Boxing Day evening, 1974, I was sitting watching our little black and white TV with my uncle, who was visiting my family with my aunty for Christmas. To this day, 50 years later, I can still remember suddenly seeing scenes of absolute devastation as news of Cyclone Tracy in Darwin filtered through to us in NSW. For almost two days, no-one ‘down south’ had known that our northern capital city had been decimated by a cyclone in the very early hours of Christmas Day. It was clocked at 217kms per hour before the instruments used to measure wind, broke.
Although I was only a little girl at the time, the impact of those visual images resonated deeply, and, with the heart of a child, I felt so sorry for all the children who didn’t get to celebrate Christmas that year.
The stories that emerged in the years following Tracy’s devastation spoke of the fact that no-one in Darwin took much notice. Early in December that year, a cyclone had formed off the coast, and people prepared for it, but it didn’t hit the city. Therefore, when Tracy was first reported, no one took much notice, let alone prepare for it. Darwin in those days was a very laid-back country town of 47,000, and nothing much fazed those tough Territorians.
The cyclone took everyone by complete and utter surprise; the loss of 66 lives was mourned deeply, and many of Darwin’s residents left soon after, never to return.
Visiting the wonderful museum in Darwin is a must-do when in the Top End; the exhibition about life as it was in 1974 in Darwin is fascinating. But entering the dark room where the actual sound footage of the wind building in intensity is truly confronting, and I can only wonder what the Darwinites of 1974 felt that Christmas morning when they emerged from their hiding places to find that their city no longer existed. For someone like me, living there 45 years later, it was impossible to imagine what it must have looked like!
Fast forward to March of 2018. We had just moved into a home in Darwin after our almost three years at the college. Our daughter, Annie, was living with us again, after 12 months in the US as a youth chaplain in a boarding college. We started hearing reports of a cyclone forming off the coast, but when I went to the shops that day, no one was in the least perturbed. “Maybe buy some water, just in case”, said one shop owner. popular person in our street that day.
Cyclone Marcus soon proved the sceptics wrong. As we listened to the winds picking up on March 21st, news reports were suggesting that a Category 1 storm could be heading our way. Marcus had been at Cat 5 level a few days previously but had thankfully eased somewhat in the ensuing days as it headed towards Darwin. Now on the 21st, we found ourselves waiting somewhat nervously to see if the Cat 1 would become a 2 or even higher. And, as we watched the next-door neighbour’s very large tree bending perilously close towards our bedroom roof while the rain lashed the windows, we prayed fervently that it wouldn’t touch us. It was amazing to see it finally land in the narrow space between our two houses, with the only damage being the fence that separated the two properties.
We were so grateful to discover that no-one had been killed or seriously injured that day. Sadly, many of the huge and beautiful African mahogany trees that had been planted for shade in the aftermath of Tracy did not survive.
I remembered that water comment later, after we’d been without electricity for three days, and had just had it finally turned back on, when some bright spark decided to cut down a tree branch down the road from us. Yes, it promptly fell across the newly erected power lines and plunged us back into late afternoon sweats. Suffice to say, he was the least popular person in our street that day!
Christmas Eve 2024 is now with us, and I pause once again to think of Darwin and its people, now numbering 146,000 plus! They are a resilient bunch, the Territorians. There’s a certain toughness, a raw reality to the Top End that is unique. Others that we’ve met since returning home three years ago now, who’ve spent time in the Top End, just nod their heads and agree that there’s no place in Australia like the Territory. Because so many have come to the Territory from other states and countries, there is a bond formed among people from different cultures and backgrounds that is also unique to the Territory. It is the reason so many stay for longer than they intend and why disasters like Cyclone Tracy prove the mettle of the deep friendships formed in the harsh north.
And so, as we once again celebrate the birth of Jesus, my hope and heart for you all is that you will know the Reason for the Season and be able to celebrate its true meaning with those you love. But if you are not able to be with those you love, whether because of loss or distance or circumstances beyond your control, or if family relationships are not what you would have hoped for, I pray you find others you can share life with, not just at Christmas, but every day. We are all made for relationship, and it is strong relationships formed in tough times that get us through the cyclones of life.
Happy Christmas, everyone.
With much love and blessings, Stef.xx