Cyclone Tracy survivors use social media to support each other
Forty years after Cyclone Tracy tore through Darwin, survivors are uniting on social media.
Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin on Christmas Eve 1974, killing 66 people and destroying 70 per cent of homes in the city.
The horror on the day has lingered with survivors for 40 years.
Jill McKerchar-Kinang was living in the Narrows, in Darwin's northern suburbs.
"I was actually sucked up, down to the other end of my room," she said.
"As I was being sucked past mum through the ceiling she lunged forward and grabbed hold of my legs and she actually pulled me down and threw her body on top of mine," Ms McKerchar-Kinang said.
"I can't imagine what would have happened if I was sucked out."
Ms McKerchar-Kinang lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder because of her experience during Cyclone Tracy.
"This year, particularly being the 40th, I had a lot of anxiety and depression and if it wasn't for these Facebook groups, if it wasn't for talking to like-minded people, I shudder to think what would have happened to me today."
The Cyclone Tracy Survivors group has about 3,000 members, while the Cyclone Tracy 40th Anniversary Commemoration and Memories has nearly 2,000 members.
Pat King is also part of the group and was working as a communications officer for St John Ambulance when Tracy hit.
"The phone rang, I answered the phone and a man had had a heart attack so I stood up started towards the door and before I got there the air-conditioner blew in and narrowly missed me."
She said the group has opened the door for people to share their memories and grief.
"If you're awake in the middle of the night and can't sleep, you can go online and there will most often be someone there."
On the page survivors share Cyclone Tracy stories and pictures and have been organising commemorative events for the 40th anniversary.
Watch the full story on the Northern Territory ABC News at 7pm.*
