Salvation Army leaders to headline Cyclone Tracy memorial event
BY KIRRALEE NICOLLE
The Salvation Army is joining the City of Darwin, the Northern Territory Government and other key stakeholders in a public memorial service to mark 50 years since Cyclone Tracy whipped through Darwin, killing 66 people and leaving 25,000 homeless.
The event will be held at the Darwin Ski Club tomorrow (Saturday 30 November) and livestreamed throughout the country. Chief Secretary Colonel Winsome Merrett will be the keynote speaker, and Lieutenant-Colonel Greg Morgan, Secretary for Mission, Major Brad Watson, Head of Community Engagement and Daryl Crowden, General Manager of Salvation Army Emergency Services, will also be in attendance. Major Paul Hateley, TSA Divisional Commander for the Northern Territory and South Australia, will be the event MC.
The event has been described as a chance to reflect on Darwin’s resilience and spirit. The cyclone, which hit early on Christmas Day in 1974, left 80 per cent of the city destroyed. In the aftermath, The Salvation Army was there to support the local community, providing food, clothing and water to those left homeless, traumatised and grieving the loss of friends, family and belongings. In a recent booklet about the cyclone, Commissioner Miriam Gluyas said the impact of Cyclone Tracy was still very much with us.
“Sixty-six people were killed, hundreds injured, and around 70 per cent of houses had serious structural damage, leaving more than 30,000 people homeless. For those who were there, the fear, sadness, deprivation and uncertainty of that time was immense and life-changing.
“We are proud of the way the citizens of Darwin rallied to help each other in that very difficult time. We are proud, too, of The Salvation Army personnel – officers, members and volunteers – who lived in Darwin or moved there in the aftermath of the cyclone to provide whatever help they could to those affected. Within 24 hours, our people were providing food, water, clothing, encouragement and practical help to those who needed it. With no power, sanitation or clean water, these Salvos became providers of help and hope.”
Winsome Merrett, who was a teenager living in Darwin at the time of Cyclone Tracy, said during the disaster, she experienced a kind of peace she described as deep and unfathomable.
“I believe that peace came from the presence of Jesus among us as we huddled together in our kitchen – it was for me a realisation of the promise of God when he sent Jesus to earth as a babe – Emmanuel – God with us,” she said.
Greg Morgan, who was a child at the time of the cyclone, moved with his TSA officer parents to Darwin five years later, a place he still considers ‘home’. As a 12-year-old, he said the lingering trauma of the event was present in his school friends and their fears, the physical landscape of the city, where many houses and buildings were still destroyed and yet to be rebuilt, and in another strange phenomenon: the lack of tall trees.
“You go to Darwin now, and it’s very much got that lush tropical [feel] with big palm trees,” he said. “But because Darwin was still in recovery mode, you actually didn’t have that.”
Greg said when Cyclone Max hit Darwin in 1981, even though there was little damage in the end, the sense of panic was palpable.
“If you know the physical layout of Darwin, there’s only one way out,” he said. “There were lots of families [whose] response to the cyclone alerts and warnings was [to pack] up and [drive] to Katherine, four hours south.
“I was probably only a 13-year-old. [At that age] you don’t have a complex view of the world, and I don’t think we talked that way back then about PTSD. But actually, there were a whole bunch of people [including] kids my age still suffering the impact [of the cyclone].”
Greg said the commemorative events held both a professional and personal significance for him, as he reflected on the trauma of those he knew who lived through Cyclone Tracy and the purpose of The Salvation Army in disaster relief to this day.
“For me, it’s a privilege and a responsibility and yes, [now] we approach it [all] very differently to how we did in Cyclone Tracy back in the mid-70s,” he said. “But that’s just a reflection of the sophistication and the learning that we’ve had since then.
“I’m thankful for our employed staff who commit to that, but also the big team of volunteers as well, who when something happens for Australians, and they look to The Salvation Army for response, will help us make that response and make a difference.”
To access the livestream of the public memorial, see here.
Following the public event, The Salvation Army will also host an officer event on 1 December, including a Commemorative Church Service at Darwin Corps, with a shared lunch.
