March 2011 Ask a Builder

Darwin is in a cyclone area and I have seen the damage they are capable of if they make landfall over or near a town. What about my home?

In 1974, around 8 in 10 of the 12,000 homes in Darwin were destroyed due to Cyclone Tracy. A large number of homes were classic tropical designs, featuring a lightweight, elevated home seated on stumps of generally around 2-2.5 metres tall. This allowed cooling breezes to come through the home at a time where air conditioning was not available on the scale it exists today.

Though building standards gave some thought to the possibility of a cyclone, most buildings were not capable of withstanding a direct hit. Since then, Darwin has seen a number of government led initiatives aimed at reducing destruction of homes and loss of life. This included the creation of a Cyclone Testing Station in Townsville in 1977, and the introduction of improved techniques such as ‘tie downs’ and ‘bracing’ to make the homes far more wind resistant.

Homes in Darwin are subject to some of the most intense inspection and building methods in the country, and have served to produce formidable homes that should withstand most storms. Standards were introduced after the cyclone and then updated in 1985. Post-Tracy, Darwin has thankfully not been confronted with this scenario with a destructive cyclone hitting Darwin directly. 

As builders, we have seen designs evolve from the ‘bomb shelter’ designs that were the immediate response to Cyclone Tracy and featured widely in the reconstruction of the city to the current styles that increasingly incorporate lighter weight materials that are now deemed to comply with the government standard and able to be used in homes.

These lighter-weight modern homes built today are as a result just as strong as any of the post-Tracy homes and can harness the breeze. This gives the locals benefit of lightweight tropical design without the obvious issues of forty years ago, where homes were being ripped to shreds or taken clean off them. In any case, any home post-1985 should withstand a cyclone event.

If we look across to Broome, where cyclones have directly affected the city in recent times they have embraced lightweight construction, if for no other reason than the relative difficulty in sourcing heavier materials in that area. These homes have resisted the cyclones, and while there is never a case for complacency, your new home should be a safe place in a storm.