It's just remarkable to think that this is the fiftieth anniversary. Fifty years and Cyclone Tracy virtually wiped Darwin off the map. I remember it vividly, as most people would who were old enough to have been around at the time. I was working at five D in the newsroom on Christmas morning when the news came through and it was absolutely devastating. Sixty six deaths, thirty thousand people evacuated, many here to Adelaide. We're going to chat now with Richard Creswick, the chairperson of Remembering Cyclone Tracy. Richard, good morning, thanks for being with.

It's just remarkable to think that this is the fiftieth anniversary. Fifty years and Cyclone Tracy virtually wiped Darwin off the map. I remember it vividly, as most people would who were old enough to have been around at the time. I was working at five D in the newsroom on Christmas morning when the news came through and it was absolutely devastating. Sixty six deaths, thirty thousand people evacuated, many here to Adelaide. We're going to chat now with Richard Creswick, the chairperson of Remembering Cyclone Tracy. Richard, good morning, thanks for being with.

Us, Thank you for having me.

Us, Thank you for having me.

Graham appreciated the years fly by rapidly, but the memories to those who are involved are just as vivid as they were on that very day.

Graham appreciated the years fly by rapidly, but the memories to those who are involved are just as vivid as they were on that very day.

What are your recollections A.

What are your recollections A.

Well, Graham. I was working for the ABC as a reporter and my job on Christmas Eve was to produce the television news bullet and so I produced the last TV news bulletin. And of course we knew Cyclone Tracy was approaching, but at that stage did not know that it was going to directly impact Darwin. So the head of the weather bureau. Ray Wilke asked me not to overdramatize it. It was my lead story, of course, but not to over dramatize it, and so I didn't, and I put the Well, you know, this was after a day of partying, because it was the last day effectively of the working year, and the last Christmas parties were being held at various departments and businesses around the place. So I had a long, boozy lunch with my colleagues and then went to a Christmas party and eventually came back and produced and presented the television news bulletin, and then went off to another party. And as the evening progressed, it was getting windier and rainier, and the lightning and sunder a fashion and flashing, but we just thought, oh, well, you know, good typical wet season storm. And I drove home from the party somewhere close to midnight. I had an MGB and the water was up to the sills and the cars being blown around a little bit. But as I say, a good strong wet season storm. So I went home and went to bed, and being of course a typical wet season day in the Northern Territory, it was hot and humid, and so I went to bed in the jocks, and I had a housemate staying with me. My wife was in Bali and Eric. Eric came home from the same party, and he went to bed in his leopard skin jocks and we went to sleep, and sometime after the power went out, he woke me up up and said, look at this, And there was a sheet of corrugated iron, obviously from our roof, swaying past the window that you could see his bedroom window in the light of the lightning flashes. So we gathered up the three cats and repaired to the bathroom, which is what we'd all been told to do, and he got in the bath with the three cats. I sat with my back to the bathroom door because the lats wouldn't hold, and so I held the bathroom door closed with my feet against the shower recess. Well, you know, night went on, and we took some cold beers in with us, of course, to see us through this wet season storm. Well, we got colder, the beers got warmer. So at one stage I said, well, I'm going to get that bottle of Covoasi had brandy that you brought duty that you bought duty free on your way back from England a week ago. So I crawled out into the lounge room, which by that stage had no louver windows, and there was rain and debris horizontal through the lounge room. So I commando crawled across the floor, got the brandy, and back into the bathroom. And so we warmed ourselves up with a bit of brandy. But the rain got heavier, and the roof had obviously gone because rain was pouring through the ceiling. I said, I'll go and get some warm clothes for us from the bedroom. I know where I can lay my hands on a tracksuit. So I opened the bathroom door, and in the flashes of lightning, I saw that I had no bedrooms.

Well, Graham. I was working for the ABC as a reporter and my job on Christmas Eve was to produce the television news bullet and so I produced the last TV news bulletin. And of course we knew Cyclone Tracy was approaching, but at that stage did not know that it was going to directly impact Darwin. So the head of the weather bureau. Ray Wilke asked me not to overdramatize it. It was my lead story, of course, but not to over dramatize it, and so I didn't, and I put the Well, you know, this was after a day of partying, because it was the last day effectively of the working year, and the last Christmas parties were being held at various departments and businesses around the place. So I had a long, boozy lunch with my colleagues and then went to a Christmas party and eventually came back and produced and presented the television news bulletin, and then went off to another party. And as the evening progressed, it was getting windier and rainier, and the lightning and sunder a fashion and flashing, but we just thought, oh, well, you know, good typical wet season storm. And I drove home from the party somewhere close to midnight. I had an MGB and the water was up to the sills and the cars being blown around a little bit. But as I say, a good strong wet season storm. So I went home and went to bed, and being of course a typical wet season day in the Northern Territory, it was hot and humid, and so I went to bed in the jocks, and I had a housemate staying with me. My wife was in Bali and Eric. Eric came home from the same party, and he went to bed in his leopard skin jocks and we went to sleep, and sometime after the power went out, he woke me up up and said, look at this, And there was a sheet of corrugated iron, obviously from our roof, swaying past the window that you could see his bedroom window in the light of the lightning flashes. So we gathered up the three cats and repaired to the bathroom, which is what we'd all been told to do, and he got in the bath with the three cats. I sat with my back to the bathroom door because the lats wouldn't hold, and so I held the bathroom door closed with my feet against the shower recess. Well, you know, night went on, and we took some cold beers in with us, of course, to see us through this wet season storm. Well, we got colder, the beers got warmer. So at one stage I said, well, I'm going to get that bottle of Covoasi had brandy that you brought duty that you bought duty free on your way back from England a week ago. So I crawled out into the lounge room, which by that stage had no louver windows, and there was rain and debris horizontal through the lounge room. So I commando crawled across the floor, got the brandy, and back into the bathroom. And so we warmed ourselves up with a bit of brandy. But the rain got heavier, and the roof had obviously gone because rain was pouring through the ceiling. I said, I'll go and get some warm clothes for us from the bedroom. I know where I can lay my hands on a tracksuit. So I opened the bathroom door, and in the flashes of lightning, I saw that I had no bedrooms.

I was just.

I was just.

The floorboards and oblivion. So I realized then that all that was between me and the storm was this flimsy bathroom door. So I took my jocks off and tied the door handle to the towel rail on the wall, and then I moved over under the handbase into a slightly I thought more secure position, and I think within seconds the wind blew the bathroom door in, ripped the towel rail off the wall, shredded the jocks, and so I had to move back and sit there with my back to the door again to keep it closed. And sometime after the ceiling fell in and that landed on the on the wash basin and the door handle that kept the door closed, and I was able to climb into the bath with Eric and the cats, and that's how we saw the rest of the night out.

The floorboards and oblivion. So I realized then that all that was between me and the storm was this flimsy bathroom door. So I took my jocks off and tied the door handle to the towel rail on the wall, and then I moved over under the handbase into a slightly I thought more secure position, and I think within seconds the wind blew the bathroom door in, ripped the towel rail off the wall, shredded the jocks, and so I had to move back and sit there with my back to the door again to keep it closed. And sometime after the ceiling fell in and that landed on the on the wash basin and the door handle that kept the door closed, and I was able to climb into the bath with Eric and the cats, and that's how we saw the rest of the night out.

You must feel so powerless. I mean, there's just nothing you can.

You must feel so powerless. I mean, there's just nothing you can.

Do, absolutely, absolutely, And like everyone, or like nearly everyone, I thought it was just my house being singled out for this damage. And I wondered what I've done, and I'm shouting out the We'll do your worst, come on, and you know, Bravardo, I don't know what. But anyway, of course, at dawn you get to look out the what where the bathroom window used to be, and look out on this scene of devastation and realize it wasn't just you, it's it's the neighborhood and the city.

Do, absolutely, absolutely, And like everyone, or like nearly everyone, I thought it was just my house being singled out for this damage. And I wondered what I've done, and I'm shouting out the We'll do your worst, come on, and you know, Bravardo, I don't know what. But anyway, of course, at dawn you get to look out the what where the bathroom window used to be, and look out on this scene of devastation and realize it wasn't just you, it's it's the neighborhood and the city.

You know.

You know.

The trees, trees that had vegetation were now just sticks sticking up in the up out of the ground. And it looked, as everybody says, like Hiroshima a bit, you.

The trees, trees that had vegetation were now just sticks sticking up in the up out of the ground. And it looked, as everybody says, like Hiroshima a bit, you.

Know, Yeah, the realization of the devastation, because as you said that, most people thought, there, it's just just another storm. We get plenty of those at this time of the year. It was much more than that, and much more than Australia had ever seen before. Obviously, people lost their houses all around you, you know, in the cold realization of day, when you know the sun was up and the storm had gone. What was the reaction of people? What did people do?

Know, Yeah, the realization of the devastation, because as you said that, most people thought, there, it's just just another storm. We get plenty of those at this time of the year. It was much more than that, and much more than Australia had ever seen before. Obviously, people lost their houses all around you, you know, in the cold realization of day, when you know the sun was up and the storm had gone. What was the reaction of people? What did people do?

Ah? We look. I think the universal reaction was just shock, disbelief and shock and and what are you going to do? I had the three cats. They were they were they were important to my wife who was in Bali. And and this sounds pathetic, but I I concentrated my my my efforts on making sure that the cats survived. And I knew that I had to go to work. I was supposed to produce a Christmas night television news bulletin, so having h well to preserve my modesty. After taking a jocks off, I'd wrapped myself in a towel like us aarrong and it was off the floor where I'd been trying to soak up water and was impregnated with broken glass and very uncomfortable. So Eric and I went around to Well, there's another bit of the story. One of my colleagues and ABC colleague from across the road, father of a three week old baby, and he came across. His car wouldn't start, and he came across and asked if we could take his family to Casurina High School, which was which was a collection point. So Eric drove them off his car undamaged and able to start. He drove them off to the Casina High School. While he was away, I fossicked in the mud and found my wife's wedding an engagement rings, my wallet, and McCarthy dug him out of the mud from below where my bedroom had been. So we then went to visit these friends, who were able to supply me with a pair of shorts and a shirt to preserve my modesty. And not long after that I went to work to you know, not knowing how I was going to do anything, but and I guess the extent to which I was traumatized that when I got to work, I asked the chief of staff because the the ABC people were gathering at the AVC Studios, technicians and announcers and all of that and their families, and I said to John Millbank, who was one of your local residents and an ABC reporter of some length of time. I said to John, do you think I'm going to have to produce a news bulletin tonight? And John's a laconic sort of a bloke, so he didn't answer immediately. Does this big look around over the devastation that we could see from the AVC studios and says I don't think so, Richard, And the relief was just enormous. But you can understand that asking the question, I was obviously clearly traumatized. And it's the realization of that really only only hit me in recent years. But that's the extent to which I personally was traumatized.

Ah? We look. I think the universal reaction was just shock, disbelief and shock and and what are you going to do? I had the three cats. They were they were they were important to my wife who was in Bali. And and this sounds pathetic, but I I concentrated my my my efforts on making sure that the cats survived. And I knew that I had to go to work. I was supposed to produce a Christmas night television news bulletin, so having h well to preserve my modesty. After taking a jocks off, I'd wrapped myself in a towel like us aarrong and it was off the floor where I'd been trying to soak up water and was impregnated with broken glass and very uncomfortable. So Eric and I went around to Well, there's another bit of the story. One of my colleagues and ABC colleague from across the road, father of a three week old baby, and he came across. His car wouldn't start, and he came across and asked if we could take his family to Casurina High School, which was which was a collection point. So Eric drove them off his car undamaged and able to start. He drove them off to the Casina High School. While he was away, I fossicked in the mud and found my wife's wedding an engagement rings, my wallet, and McCarthy dug him out of the mud from below where my bedroom had been. So we then went to visit these friends, who were able to supply me with a pair of shorts and a shirt to preserve my modesty. And not long after that I went to work to you know, not knowing how I was going to do anything, but and I guess the extent to which I was traumatized that when I got to work, I asked the chief of staff because the the ABC people were gathering at the AVC Studios, technicians and announcers and all of that and their families, and I said to John Millbank, who was one of your local residents and an ABC reporter of some length of time. I said to John, do you think I'm going to have to produce a news bulletin tonight? And John's a laconic sort of a bloke, so he didn't answer immediately. Does this big look around over the devastation that we could see from the AVC studios and says I don't think so, Richard, And the relief was just enormous. But you can understand that asking the question, I was obviously clearly traumatized. And it's the realization of that really only only hit me in recent years. But that's the extent to which I personally was traumatized.

Yeah, I can well imagine you've had sort of long lasting trauma, you know, sort of you know, recurring nightmas or anything like that.

Yeah, I can well imagine you've had sort of long lasting trauma, you know, sort of you know, recurring nightmas or anything like that.

Oh, not at all.

Oh, not at all.

No, No.

No, No.

In fact, you know, I might use it as an excuse for the fact that I that in my subsequent life I drank too much red wine. But I wouldn't have said Sells physically completely uninjured. Its not a scratch on me. And the same with Eric and the three cats. So to some extent, a little bit of imposter guilt, you know.

In fact, you know, I might use it as an excuse for the fact that I that in my subsequent life I drank too much red wine. But I wouldn't have said Sells physically completely uninjured. Its not a scratch on me. And the same with Eric and the three cats. So to some extent, a little bit of imposter guilt, you know.

Yeah, well imagine. Look, Richard, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. There are thousands of stories and we're hearing forty five thousands. Yeah, just amazing. Yeah, great to chat.

Yeah, well imagine. Look, Richard, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. There are thousands of stories and we're hearing forty five thousands. Yeah, just amazing. Yeah, great to chat.

Thank you very much for having me, Graham, thank you

Thank you very much for having me, Graham, thank you

Richard Creswick, Chairperson of the Remembering Cyclone Tracy

Richard Creswick, Chairperson of the Remembering Cyclone Tracy