Forty years ago, I recall waking up as a thirteen-year old, at my grandmother's house in Sydney on Christmas morning. My parents told me that, overnight, the city of Darwin had been destroyed by a cyclone they called Cyclone Tracy. Many were dead and injured, and many had lost everything. I think this disaster has stayed with me for so long since Christmas is supposed to be a happy and joyous occasion, which it certainly was not for many Australians that Christmas Eve of 1974.
Scenes of the devastation.