Darwin now hard at work

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33741, 14 January 1975, Page 14

Darwin now hard at work

Some of the problems of the residents of Darwin who stayed to clean up after Cyclone Tracy devastated the city are described in a letter from a Christchurch woman living there to her parents.

Mrs Helen Barley and her husband, Graeme, also a New Zealander, have lived in Darwin only a short time. They were married in November, and live in a flat in the suburb of Stuart Park. Mrs Barley’s parents are Mr and Mrs R, E. Baxter, of Wingate Street, Northcote.

Since the cyclone, Mrs Barley as been working for the Post Office in Darwin, sorting telegrams, and Mr Barley is working for the Ministry of Works as a storeman.

“There is certainly no shortage of jobs, although they are all terriby hard work,” Mrs Barley said in her letter.

Typhoid and cholera injec-

tions were needed because the risk of disease was high, she said. INSECT PROBLEM

“It really is hot wtihout fans, and as the windows have had the fly-screens ripped away, we are plagued by mosquitoes and other insects.”

Mrs Barley said she was exhausted trying to get everything dry, and after “cleaning up and disinfecting everything because it stinks, and it is so germ-ridden.” However, things had improved. “The speed with which everyone has been helped is amazing — the schools are putting people up, providing everyone with free clothing, food, and cigarettes. Now everything is free. The water has been restored, and we have a generator for one light, one gas lamp, a primus, and a portable gas stove — all given to us free.” CUPBOARD SHELTER

Mrs Barley described how she and her husband, a friend, and their kitten,

Sylvester, spent most of Christmas night sheltering in a large storage cupboard because it was the safest place in the flat.

When the cyclone warnings were broadcast, Mr and Mrs Barley took the recommended precautions, including opening all the windows on the leeward side of the house, and putting breakable items into cupboards. “About 11 p.m. the weather had got increasingly worse — the rain was pelting down, and the wind was getting really violent. The trees were starting to give that sickening creak.” The rain forced its way through their louvre windows, and the floors in the two bedrooms were under water, although the flat was on the top storey. ROOF LIFTED "We had a look outside. The wind was so strong that I could hardly stand up, and bits of our roof were starting to blow away. We stayed inside and listened to the sounds of the roof gradually going, and a lot of tinkling and thudding sounds. “The power went off, and, shortly after, the water. We climbed into the big storage cupboard which was dry and a lot safer, as it has extra concrete padding all round. Our ears were popping with the pressure the cyclone made. Our roof, which only had the plaster covering, had caved in at one point and the water was just pouring in,” she said.

The Barleys’ neighbours had to leave their flat during

the cyclone because it was flattened. “When the dawn came we looked out. and what a terrible sight. Al! around us were houses with walls and roofs missing, or just crumpled. Galvanised iron was wrapped round lampposts, trees, or through houses. Cars were twisted and mangled into each other. We realised how lightly we had escaped with a few broken louvres, and the galvanised iron off our roof,” Mrs Barley said.