Tropical cyclone Fina has felled huge trees across northeast parts of the Top End following a storm rampage that residents are glad to see the back of.
A drive around the Northern Territory capital Darwin on the morning after the storm showed dozens of trees down along with branches and leaf litter strewn across the roads.
One large tree blocked Smith Street, a main thoroughfare in the CBD, and big trees were uprooted in the park by The Esplanade, on the Darwin Waterfront and at the city's botanic gardens.
Work crews with chainsaws have their work cut out for them in coming days as the clean-up gets underway.
After hours of howling gale-force winds overnight, residents were surprised there wasn't more damage to houses.
That could be thanks largely to building codes brought in after cyclone Tracy, which killed 66 people when it flattened Darwin in 1974.
Residents and tourists were inspecting and taking photographs of large fallen trees by the Esplanade and in the CBD on Sunday.
After a week of sightseeing in Darwin Sharon Thurston and her partner had their flight home to South Australia cancelled on Saturday due to the cyclone and had to sit out the storm in a hotel room.
"It was quite scary but safe at the same time," she told AAP while inspecting a large felled tree by The Esplanade.
"It's just one of those experiences that you can't imagine you will ever have to go through."
Ms Thurston said as well as the high windy sound of the storm they could hear big waves crashing on the shore and the cracking sound of trees falling.
"It was pretty amazing and I think it will be one of those things I can look back on and go 'wow" but at the time it was a bit frightening."
Also checking out the felled trees was Keelan Edwards from Howard Springs near Darwin, who told AAP it got "pretty wild" where he was overnight with trees going down, including one onto a demountable.
"It was pretty loud and pretty daunting, it was quite scary for a big part of it, you wouldn't want to be out in the open during it."
The clean-up in Darwin is set to get underway in earnest on Monday with work crews restoring power and clearing the roads of trees and debris.
Fina, the strongest cyclone to hit Darwin since Tracy, packed top gusts of 195km/h and sustained winds near the centre of the system of 140km/h.
