Early on Christmas morning of 1974, Darwin was devastated when hit by Cyclone Tracy. As the eye of the cyclone passed over the city between midnight and 7 am, torrential rain fell and the winds were officially recorded at 217 km per hour prior to the Bureau of Meteorology anemometer being destroyed.

Cyclone Tracy had a profound impact on the Darwin community with over 70 per cent of Darwin’s homes destroyed or suffering severe damage, all public services including communications, power, water and sewerage were severed, 41,000 people left homeless, 35,362 people (of the 47,000 total population of Darwin) were evacuated and tragically 66 lives were lost.

View the interactive map below to compare black and white imagery of Darwin from 1975 – after Cyclone Tracy – with a bird’s eye view of Darwin today.