Pearl Chaloupka was trapped in Cyclone Tracywhich hit Darwin, NT, in the early hours of Christmas Day in 1974
The cyclone destroyed her house and left a trail of devastation in its wake
66 people were killed and hundreds left seriously injured.
50 years on Pearl talks about how the cyclone left her forever changed
Here Pearl tells her story in her own words.
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In the glow of the Christmas lights, I tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a new school satchel and grinned.
It was Christmas Eve 1974 and, aged seven, I was with my parents George, an artist and rock art expert, and Janet, a ceramicist, and my sister Eve, then 12.
Our family always celebrated on December 24, as that was Dad’s Czechoslovakian tradition.
When friends and neighbours popped in for a party, our house brimmed with laughter and happy chatter.
Growing tired, I didn’t want to miss out on any fun, so Mum placed a mattress on the floor under the dining room table so I could sleep nearby. And I soon dozed off.
It was late when I woke to see Mum and Dad’s concerned faces.
The guests had gone, but outside trees were bending in the ferocious winds and rain. ‘Cyclone!’ Dad announced
‘The storm was in fact Cyclone Tracy and it was heading straight for us’
Mum and Dad (Supplied)
A week earlier, there’d been a warning on the news about the threat of a cyclone hitting Darwin where we lived, and us kids ran home from school, terrified.
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But nothing ever came of it, and we assumed the danger had passed. Now though, as the storm outside grew more threatening, Eve and I scurried to Mum and Dad’s bedroom.
The four of us clung together on the bed, along with our black Labrador Tuppence. Our Siamese cat Candy was nowhere to be found. As the house shook, Mum and Dad exchanged worried glances.
‘We need to go to the bathroom for safety,’ they said, ushering us into the tiled bathroom in the middle of the house, sure it would be a safer space if the worst was to happen.
Mum, Eve and I all crammed into the tub as Dad sat with his back braced against the door, Tuppence dutifully sat beside him.
As Mum dragged a mattress over the top to protect us, it was terribly claustrophobic.
On the radio, announcers explained the storm was in fact Cyclone Tracy and it was heading straight for us in Fannie Bay.
My artwork of my family and seeking refuge in the bathroom during the cyclone (Supplied)
As we heard the roof thrashing violently with the sound of metal screeching above, I peered through a gap in the mattress to see the wind peeling back the ceiling like a sardine can, tearing it clean off to reveal an eerie, yellow sky.
Entering the early hours of Christmas Day, the wind dropped and Mum peeked out from under the mattress.
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‘We’re in the eye,’ Dad said. It meant we were in the centre of the cyclone.
After using the toilet in the bathroom, we dashed back into the bath as the wind and rain picked up again, battering our house.
When light finally broke, the wind dropped.
As we gingerly got out of the bathroom, we surveyed the devastation.
‘It looked like a bomb had gone off. Houses were demolished, trees and electricity poles were down and there was a caravan in our front yard.’
Most of the walls and windows of our home were shattered. My parents’ room, where we’d first sought shelter, had been completely obliterated. I shuddered to think what would have happened to us if we’d stayed there.
Glancing down the street, it looked like a bomb had gone off. Houses were demolished, trees and electricity poles were down, and there was a caravan in our front yard that had blown from down the block.
Cyclone Tracy left a trail of devastation. (Credit: Getty)Eve and I in the remains of our house (Supplied)(Credit: Supplied )
Last night I saw a boat fly past,’ Mum said.
Our house, clothes, furniture, Dad’s beloved artwork and all our belongings were all ruined. We’d lost everything but we were safe.
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It was a Christmas we’d never forget.
Reeling in shock, we went to the local hotel to seek shelter.
Returning home days later, as I walked through the broken floorboards and glass, we heard a faint meow.
Candy darted out of the storage shed to our delight – he’d been trapped in there but had survived the cyclone.
Listening to the news, we learned the horrific scale of Cyclone Tracy. It’d devastated 80 per cent of Darwin. Tragically 66 people had been killed and hundreds were injured.
With thousands homeless and without clean water, the government mandated that a large portion of the population had to leave, including women, children and the elderly.
Bidding Dad a tearful goodbye, we were bussed to the airport with thousands of others
We travelled to Sydney then on to Canberra, where we were placed in a housing commission home.
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Eve and I were put in new schools but I longed for my home. A year later, I was overjoyed when we finally flew back to be with Dad. He’d built a small demountable to live in on our property. Over the years he rebuilt our home brick by brick, but it was never the same.
Although we never talked about the trauma of the cyclone, the terrifying experience deeply affected me. I became withdrawn, shy, and was plagued with nightmares, often sleepwalking. I was irrevocably changed by what happened.
‘I was irrevocably changed by what happened.’
In 1977 Dad designed a stained glass window, depicting fishing nets and waves, which became part of a memorial to Cyclone Tracy in the new cathedral in Darwin. He was given an Order of Australia for his work.
When Dad passed away aged 79 in 2011, and then Mum followed in 2022, aged 84, I was devastated.
But moving back to Mum’s land in Western Australia helped me feel I’ve found my home.
Fifty years on from Cyclone Tracy, the trauma from that day still remains.
Inspired by Dad and Mum, I now make my own art, which has helped me to come to terms with what we went through. I know they’d be proud of the life I’ve created.
