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My experience with Tracy 1974

by Fay Karamanakis
(Darwin NT Australia)

My name is Fay Karamanakis and here is some of my experiances of Tracy

Tracy was unbelievable, I am still almost aghast with the memories. My story's is a little bit dramatic too because our dog saved our lives only to get shot the next day by the cops because they were worried about diseases.

It was traumatic days I stilll remember and around 11 o'clock it started to get really windy and scary.

I normally did not like to have any animals in the house because of the children.
I felt sorry for our Dog blacky who was scratching the class door to come in.
He was as frightened as I was so I put a nice warm mat in the kitchen and let him in.

As soon as I let the animal in and it ran to the baby's cot and pulled the sheets and he made the baby knock her head on the cot leaving it screaming then went into the next room and pulled the three year old off the bed on to the ground. I was really wild with the animal, so I took the dog and chucked him out and I had to settle the kids, my three year old daughter weighed a ton so I had to pick the baby as well as the three year old child and try and stoped them from crying in the mean time the dog was still going crazy. When my husband came home after a bout an hour the weather was very bad there were wild winds belting the windows and the whole house was shaking.

He saw the dog and felt sorry for him so he brought the dog in from the winds as soon as I seen him I was wild and told John my husband not to let him in. Then the pet looked at me with a strange look in his eyes as if he was trying to tell me something, he then took me by the skirt and was trying to lead me to the door while I was holding the two babies. By that time the galvanised iron roofing was starting to lift and this animal was really telling us to go.

John said the animal is trying to tell us to go so I grabbed my babiesâ€™ bag while I was carring the baby and John carried Katie my oldest child and ran down stairs in our granny flat thinking that it would be best and it was.

So, that's when we decided to go. Exactly two minutes later the whole house just collapsed, the whole house was completely gone.
Our story like so many others is one of strange happenings. We must have had a saint look over us that day.

There is so much more to this story and it will make a good book about My exeriance with Tracy.

Comments for My experience with Tracy 1974

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The dogs
by: Anonymous

I had the job of burying the dogs just on daylight each morning with a 'loader it got to me after awhile, I don't think of it often, probably don't want to.

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Shooting Dogs
by: Paul Bonderenko

I lived in Moil when Tracy hit and the next morning we all congregated at Moil primary school.
We were allocated different tasks ,they had dug a big pit in the school yard and we took shifts in shooting any dogs that came into the school yards or that were bought into us. It was a very traumatic time for everyone , it will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

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The dogs
by: Anonymous

I was a policeman stationed at the Casuarina Police Station in the immediate post Tracy period. Nobody ever gave me an order to shoot dogs. I was at the counter of the police station when a chap came in with 5 greyhounds. I asked him why he had brought the dogs in and he said because he had heard that they had to be shot. I asked him if he could look after them. He said that he could. I told him if that was the case take the dogs home and he did. I know there is a big pit in the rear of the old Casuarina Fire Station that contains many dogs.

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The little boys dog
by: Anonymous

My dad was one of the police officers in those days and he was responsible for putting the dogs down. Sadly he passed away at Christmas last year. I recall many stories that he told of cyclone tracy and in particular the shooting of the dogs. That weighed very heavily on him throughout his entire life afterwards. I only hope that the families in particular the little boy with the dog on his lap that my father had to take away and shoot can forgive him for what he had to do at the time.

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time marches on
by: Anonymous

I am the police officer who talked about the shooting of the dogs. It is now december 2012 and i actually hate this time of year. Christmas is great for kids and I am happy for them. I am elderly now and we have three dogs who we treat like kids. I love dogs I tend not to dwell on the shooting of the dogs. Most younger people would not believe it. But that was the time. Does not change the fact that it did effect me for life. But people died and were injured and that was worse. I often wonder about the little boy whose dog I took off his lap. He is a man now and probably does not remember it. anyway merry christmas to all.

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WOW
by: Anonymous

That poor poor dog and its family = owner

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The poor dogs
by: Lesley Davis (nee Williamson)

Hi Fay,
thanks for your post. I have only just discovered this site as I was asked to speak about the cyclone to some students at the school I work at(Brisbane). I think that the shooting of the dogs was one of the saddest parts of the cyclone. We were at Wagaman primary school - just 4 houses away from our house. My dad heard that the dogs were going to be shot so he managed to grab our beautiful black lab and take him back to our 'house' or rather the floor boards and tie him up there. It was so sad to see little dogs being taken off children's laps and taken off to be shot.... after they had managed to save them during the storm. I guess the officials had never handled anything like that before and thought they were doing the right thing. So sad to see the post by the police officer who still feels terrible about that.

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SOOO SAD!!!!
by: Anonymous

sooo sad i am actually doing a report on cyclone tracy and i need big help

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Shooting of the dogs
by: Anonymous

I was a Police Officer in Darwin after the cyclone. A few days after the cyclone we were ordered to shoot all dogs as it was a concern they would get into the rotting food in the suburbs and maybe cause major disease. I was stationed at the Casuarina High school and shot a couple of hundred dogs which haunts me to this day.
I recall walking down between rows of survivors and saw a young boy with his little dog on his lap covered with a towell. Doing my job I took that dog to a pit dug for the purpose and shot it.
I will never forget that little boy or his little dog. I hoped as time went buy I would forget. But I have not.

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wow
by: unique

Wow that is sooo sad. The poor dog and after he saved ure life!

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wow
by: Nick

That is a truly amazing story, and I can't belive they shot your dog right after he/she saved your lives! I wish you all the best!
~Nick

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awesome!!!
by: tammy kathopoulis

Wow Fay.... your story is so interesting, reading your story made me realise how lucky we are today, ive never been in anything like that before and im hopeing im never in something like that ever... good on you Fay, i wish you all the best.
lots of love Tammy Kathopoulis
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

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wow how amazing
by: hello my name is maggie

This story gave me information not to go to Darwin. I read your story and felt bad about what had happened. I wish I could have stopped it. But I am not mother nature. give my regards to the dog.... ()()

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wow
by: Anonymous

wow..poor person..poor dog!

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info
by: Anonymous

hi guys good info

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project assistance
by: mystery gal

the info was good and helped me for a section of my homework project.

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