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Steve Williams

by Steve Williams
(Adelaide South Australia)

I was only a little over ten years of age when I was told of a cyclone heading towards Darwin on Christmas day 1974.
I can clearly remember my father opening the louver windows to allow some of the wind to pass through the house. It became so intense that my father went to the back of the house in Jingili to view other houses and to see how they were surving, well they wern't there, they had been destroyed to a point of non recognition.

At that time we had decided to move out of the house at the eye of the cyclone and into the Toyota landcruiser.We positioned the vehicle against another heavy vehicle(bull bar to bull bar)and let the wind hit the truck and deflect over us.We were in the toyota for about six hours.

The next morning was total destruction.
I remember my uncle saying he heard several noises resembling a large train horn sounding, we think this may be the alleged tornadoes that were also involved in the winds of Tracey that caused the extent of the damage (similar to the damage of tornadoes in Florida USA.You compare)The twisted power polls that were outside the casuarina high school,we feel they are from these tornadoes.
I remember a story that a person had a very intoxicated night before Tracey,he woke up and said " Is this how they celebrate Christmas".

Cheers
Steve Williams.