Looking back on Cyclone Tracy 50 years on

It’s been 50 years since Darwin was devastatingly hit by Cyclone Tracy which tragically saw 80 per cent of homes destroyed and 66 lives lost.

3AW Presenter Nick McCallum, who travelled to Darwin ahead of the 50th anniversary, revealed to 3AW Breakfast the damage was so extensive the government had considered making Alice Springs the capital of the Northern Territory.

“Tracy, at the time, was actually the smallest ever recorded tropical cyclone but because it was so small, it was so tightly wound and slowly moving, it literally stayed over the top of Darwin for about six hours,” he said.

Press PLAY to hear how people were impacted by one of Australia’s worst natural disasters

Image: Facebook/Royal Australian Air Force.