On Christmas Eve in 1974, Cyclone Tracy razed Darwin to the ground, killing 66 people and prompting a massive evacuation from the city of 35,000 people.

Now, 50 years since the disaster that changed the nation, Darwin's population is three times what it was then. 

Why did so many survivors return to the cyclone belt to rebuild Darwin and their lives?

In this first of a two-part series, Darwin reporter Jane Bardon hears first hand accounts of a night of terror and explores how the event became life-defining.

What we can learn from how survivors have dealt with their trauma, as we face a changing climate in which many more communities will suffer the effects of cyclones, floods and fires?

Featured: 

Jane Bardon, ABC Darwin journalist

Richard Creswick, former ABC Darwin journalist

June Mills, Larrakia elder

Alan Haines, former fuel depot worker

Dr Sadhana Mahajani, former Darwin doctor

Dr Arun Mahajani, former Darwin surgeon

Jared Archibald, Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory history curator