Cyclone Tracy: The Legacy

ABC News Daily

Fifty years ago, Cyclone Tracy's ferocious winds destroyed 85 per cent of Darwin's housing and most of the city's infrastructure.

It was the third time Darwin had been razed to the ground by a cyclone, but within three days the prime minister had committed to rebuilding Australia's northern capital in the same spot.

In this final of a two-part series, Darwin reporter Jane Bardon hears how Tracy prompted an overhaul of the National Construction Code.

It's supposed to ensure buildings on Australia's northern coast can withstand a category four cyclone.

But is the building industry adhering to the code, and as climate change threatens more severe cyclones and storms surges, is the code up to the job?

Featured:

Jane Bardon, ABC Darwin journalist

Leo Athanasiou, Darwin builder and Athanasiou Group Director

Dawn Lawrie, former Northern Territory Assembly MLA

Jared Archibald, Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory history curator

Elisha Harris, Harris Kmon Solutions structural engineer

Charmain Enthaler, Charles Darwin University architecture lecturer