Peter Copland on Cyclone Tracy (continued)

Back at the school and almost utter bedlam. Most of the inhabitants of the nearby wrecked caravan park had moved there. There was one young policeman and, I think, a local doctor trying to keep things under control. The worry of a lot of the people was that we were actually still in the eye and they were still expecting the other half to appear at any moment; I tried to convince as many as possible this was not the case. With no way of public communication I believe this was a real problem in the northern suburbs over which the eye had not passed. Our families had set up a temporary camp in the shed with our vehicles; several other groups of homeless friends had also moved in. I think the group now would have numbered about 20 with half under 12 years old. We had a rather quiet, sparse and impromptu Christmas dinner, with most sitting on the wet floor, but it was possibly the best dinner had by any Darwin group that day.

Another inspection of the radar aimed at getting the anticipated power for the building, making sure that there was nothing shorted in our switchboard and to disconnect the cables from the DCA power house. Looked at the airport Dines anemograph, and was not very encouraged; it was rather flat on the ground, as was the instrument shelter. Then planed to set up a spare Synchrotac unit beside the radar building. We still had an ok radiosonde and the instrument shelter at the radar would be ok for normal observations.

That night (still Christmas Day), and working on a rumour, we found that the phone in the airport Weather Service Office was actually still operating. So we waited in a queue 'til about midnight when we managed to get a message to relatives down south that we were all ok. Also, some other good news messages for friends' relatives. My wife's sister in Sydney would probably have spent the next hour or so ringing around Australia.

Bureau of Meteorology