City of Darwin predicts cyclone clean-up could take months
City of Darwin’s youngest ever acting Lord Mayor will oversee council’s cyclone clean-up, which could take months. Read what’s happening.
City of Darwin has set aside at least three-months to clean-up debris - including about 4500 fallen or damaged trees - dumped by Tropical Cyclone Fina.
With the Esplanade Park Run cancelled for another week and woody giants still horizontal across the city and suburbs, Council has responded to questions about when the clean-up will conclude.
It’s expected clean-up work will continue well into 2026.
“City of Darwin’s initial recovery period is estimated at three months, with efforts focused on the immediate removal of fallen trees and debris from priority areas including roads, parks, ovals, open spaces and walkways,” council said.
“This phase covers the highest-risk, highest-use areas first.”
“Importantly, this three-month estimate does not represent full completion of all clean-up activities across the municipality - particularly residential verges and lower-priority areas, which will continue beyond this initial period as resources become available.
“Progress is also highly weather-dependent. Recent storms have caused additional trees to fall, including in locations that had already been cleared, requiring reassessment and contributing to delays. Crews are working continuously while monitoring the evolving forecast to ensure work is undertaken safely.
“To date, recovery efforts have been operating at maximum capacity. Our teams are working in extreme heat, challenging humidity, and often hazardous environments. The scale of work is significant, and we ask the community to remain patient and understanding as this essential work continues.”
About 200 people including council employees and contractors are currently dedicated solely to the clean-up.
Council said contractors had already been engaged prior to TC Fina actually arriving over Darwin, with about 85 arboriculture, civil works, building, and electrical specialists currently taking part in the clean-up.
More than 100 City of Darwin field staff working in crews of two to 12, depending on complexity, and about 15 logistics and support staff are helping with co-ordinating materials, managing customer requests, insurance and overseeing contract delivery.
And the Christmas clean-up will be overseen by potentially the City of Darwin’s youngest ever Acting Lord Mayor, when 22-year-old Patrik Ralph assumes the robes and chains over the festive break.
Travelling to Bali over the break, Lord Mayor Peter Styles thanked Territorians for their part in the clean-up.
“Thank you to everyone who has provided information from across the municipality to support our recovery efforts, including all Snap, Send, Solve reports and phone calls,” he said.
“While several ovals have restricted reopening, clean-up, debris removal, and tree-risk management are ongoing.
“We urge the community to stay alert, avoid taped-off zones, and exercise caution. Safety remains our top priority as recovery continues.
“Some areas need specialist contractors or co-ordination with essential services, which can mean repairs and clean-up take longer than expected.”
Meanwhile, City of Palmerston is anticipating a much quicker turnaround as they go about disposing of 4000 tonnes of cyclone material.
“We don’t have a specific time limit for Tropical Cyclone Fina clean-up, however we anticipate the majority of areas will be complete by early in the new year,” City of Palmerston said in a statement.
“Work has been prioritised from the most impacted suburbs to the least, with all high-priority safety jobs completed, regardless of their location. Over 1000 jobs have been logged, with more than 426 completed.
“Many more have been actioned and are awaiting finalisation. All of our parks are open and able to be used, with residents requested to be mindful of any specific areas that require clean-up.”
City of Palmerston residents can track suburb-by-suburb progress using the live Cyclone Fina Recovery Map at https://palmerston.nt.gov.au/your-community/environment/cyclone-and-storms
