Peter Copland on Cyclone Tracy (continued)

On Thursday 26 December we decided to move back to the remains of our houses, and leave some extra room at the school. Set up the generator under the house opposite ours with a couple of freezers and a small refrigerator, and some power leads for lights to the next door houses. This was all completed while I was back working at the airport. My wife lost her sunglasses during this operation; we found them later in one of the freezers. The kitchen and lounge area of our house remained ok. With no water, the roofless bathroom did not matter too much. Our friends over the road had two bedrooms, a bathroom and half a kitchen.

The RAAF had found a power source for us, a 35 kW machine, I think, and were finding some cable, fuel and a electrician to help me hook it into the building. Had a bit of fun while waiting at the Weather Service Office where one of the fire hydrants was broken off with water gushing out 1.5 metres high. Another guy and I tried to screw the pipe back on which, of course, was quite impossible. Then the idea of parking a car wheel on the opening (with the car attached). This idea worked after several attempts and, although having a rather good shower in the process, reduced the wastage of water to about a tenth. A bloke in a nearby shed had a bit of a grizzle; he would now have to use a tap.

The alternator arrived at the radar building in the afternoon together with some drums of diesel. The engine fuel tank would last for 15 hours as I remember, so had to be refuelled from the drums every 12 hours. Connected the alternator directly into the main switchboard, and, apart from stopping to check oil and water levels every few days, it ran continuously for the next six to eight weeks. Now to get things operational again. The first problem was to dry out all the electronics which had spent two days in 100 percent relative humidity, with even the floor cable ducts full of water. The poor old air-conditioners worked flat for out for quite awhile. Late in the afternoon I had a visitor. Our Staff Clerk from Melbourne, Kevin Beatty, had become a stowaway on a Hercules to Darwin to see what was happening. I think he cheered up the Bureau staff a bit. I also seem to remember he may have got into a bit of strife over the unauthorised trip.

A surface observation program was started at the radar building, I think, on the afternoon of Friday 27 December. Commenced trying to get the radar going that afternoon. A couple of the power supplies got hot and smoky but after repairs and some more hours drying out it worked. The first balloon flight would have been on Saturday 28 December. If I remember correctly radiosonde flights were a bit of a problem for awhile. There were no doors on the filling shed and gas supplies were not too good. The local gas supplier was not operating, but I think there were still some 'do it yourself gear' and chemical supplies on hand which the guys may have used.

Bureau of Meteorology