Cyclone Tracy Timeline
- December 20, 1974 – 10:00 AM
Cyclone Tracy forms as a low over the Arafura Sea. - December 21 – 10:00 AM
Cyclone Tracy is named after forming into a category 1 cyclone. - December 22 – 9:00 AM
Cyclone Tracy builds into a Category 2 cyclone. - December 23 – 9:00 AM
Tracy reaches Category 3 strength and tracks around Tiwi Islands. - December 24 – 9:00 AM
Tracy intensifies into a category 4. - December 25 – 3:00 AM
Cyclone Tracy crosses the northern coast of Australia hitting Darwin as a Category 4 cyclone. (Cyclone Tracy lasted for approximately 6 hours, making landfall on the in the early hours of Christmas Day, 1974. - December 25 – 9:00 AM
Tracy dissipates to a category 2 over land. - December 25–January 1, 1975 – Recovery Efforts
Immediate rescue and relief operations begin in Darwin. Reconstruction Commission formed by the Federal Government. - January 5 – End of Emergency
Emergency declared over, focus shifts to rebuilding. Rebuilding efforts begin in earnest, with many residents relocating to other parts of Australia. - January 1978 – Population returns
Three years after Cyclone Tracy the population returns to pre-Tracy levels and most of the rebuild is complete.
