- Before Tracy
- Previous Cyclones
- Previous Responses
- Darwin 1974
- Christmas Eve
By 1974 Darwin was home to about 48,000 people (estimates vary), only slightly less than half the Territory's then total. Darwin was still very much a city dominated by the public service, but it seemed that it had achieved a critical mass which would support more balanced future development.
In the previous 20 years the city had expanded rapidly from its original town peninsula (1869 - 1914) and Stuart Park - Parap (1914 - 1946) into new areas such as Nightcliff and Winnellie (1946 - 1954). From 1956 new suburbs were created, from Fannie Bay to Rapid Creek (1960) and then spilling over Rapid Creek into Alawa and then into new areas in the northern suburbs. Darwin also acquired a rural residential fringe at Howard Springs and beyond.
Housing expansion had been rapid, and although building standards required some attention to the threat of cyclones, many new houses were, in practice, quite inadequately constructed to withstand the forces of high winds or flying debris.
There are conflicting estimates of Darwin's population on 24 December 1974. Useful figures, which are probably as accurate as any such figures can be, are given by Milliken. He estimates that Darwin's resident population on 24th December 1974 was 49,000; 5,500 of these people were away from the city (on recreation leave, etc) on that date, leaving 43,500 people physically present in Darwin on the eve of the cyclone.
This population was housed in approximately 12,000 dwellings. Unhappily, few residents realised that most of these dwellings would have little or no capacity to withstand cyclonic forces.