• City of Darwin has formally completed Cyclone Fina recovery, with more than 13,400 surveys of infrastructure and trees completed across the municipality. 

• All priority safety risks were addressed within three months, and the entire urban tree network has been assessed to ensure community safety. 

• City of Darwin thanks the community for their patience and support throughout the full recovery.  

City of Darwin has officially completed its Cyclone Fina recovery operations marking the end of a coordinated, large-scale response that restored essential services, public spaces and community infrastructure across the municipality. 

Since November, more than 13,400 assessments were undertaken across City of Darwin infrastructure, parks and open spaces, including multiple inspections of key public assets to ensure community safety and long-term resilience.  

The recovery was delivered as a phased approach, with Phase One: Initial Three-Month Recovery focussing on the municipality's highest-risk and highly used areas. This involved the assessment and restoration of essential services including clearing fallen trees and debris from priority areas such as roads, walkways, parks, ovals and open spaces.  

In the first 72 hours following the cyclone, crews focused on reopening critical road networks to restore access to hospitals, emergency services and schools. Fallen trees and debris were cleared to enable rapid access, with detailed risk assessments continuing as conditions stabilised. 

While many areas appeared cleared early, significant work continued behind the scenes to ensure sites were stable, safe and ready for long-term use.  

Phase Two: Recovery commenced once City of Darwin’s teams were confident that the priority areas were safe and operational for the community. This second phase prioritised final clearing of verges, mowing grass on verges, ovals, parks and reserves and infrastructure repairs.  

City of Darwin CEO Simone Saunders said the scale of the event required disciplined prioritisation and a strong focus on safety at each phase. 

“Safety guided every decision we made, from the first hours of response through to final restoration works,” Ms Saunders said. 

Cyclone Fina recovery works were undertaken during the wet season, with prolonged rain, humidity and restricted site access presenting ongoing challenges. These conditions delayed some works, particularly in parks and open spaces, where crews and efforts were managed to avoid causing further damage, Ms Saunders said.  

Recovery efforts were supported by City of Darwin staff, specialist arborists and contractors working extended hours, with close coordination with utility providers and government agencies to manage safety risks around infrastructure and public spaces. 

Lord Mayor Peter Styles formally thanks the community for their patience and support.  

“I would like to sincerely thank our residents, community groups, sporting clubs and local businesses for their patience and understanding throughout this recovery, "he said.  

“We know this was a challenging time, and we appreciate the way our community adapted while we worked to ensure all areas were made safe and fully restored.” 

The scale of recovery work is huge - we manage 90% of Darwin’s road network (475km), 221 parks, 630km of footpaths, 22,000 driveways, 150 playgrounds, 19 sporting ovals, and 590 hectares of green space, he said.  

“Darwin is a resilient city, and this recovery has strengthened our preparedness for future events,” Mr Styles said.  

Overview: 

• 13,483 surveys of infrastructure and trees were conducted across the municipality, including assessing the entire urban tree network to ensure community safety. 

• 5,279 trees were identified as requiring works 

• 1,960 high and moderate-risk trees were removed. 

• 1,203 tree stumps were cleared from road verges and 1,063 stumps from parks. 

• More than 200 City of Darwin staff and contractors worked on the recovery, supported by utility providers.  

• Impacts on City of Darwin infrastructure included damage to shade sails at parks and playgrounds, the Lyons Community Centre roof damaged by a fallen tree, damage to lighting, irrigation systems, playground equipment and pathways. 

• One large tree stump removed from Smith Street, Darwin City Centre, in January 2026, weighed over 14 tonnes.  

• Recovery efforts officially concluded on Thursday 30 April, 2026 

For more information, visit Cyclone Fina (2025) | City of Darwin | Darwin Council, Northern Territory