Only now is the mounting cost of the hail and fire to the nation's scientific effort emerging.
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Canberra researcher Keith Bayless at the Black Mountain CSIRO site was studying flies by catching them in special traps but those traps were destroyed.
His plan was to document the myriad different species of insect. He had already discovered hundreds of previously undiscovered types.
But when the hailstorm struck on January 20 at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation campus, his traps - and the knowledge-gathering for which they were essential - were shattered.
On top of the fly traps hit by hail in Canberra, his equipment in the bush has been destroyed by fire.
Other CSIRO projects, though, did survive - but only because of extraordinary rescues.
Dr Mark Clements had 1500 orchids in three of the 65 glasshouses destroyed at the Black Mountain site.
The three - one simulating a local climate and the other two simulating tropical climates - were shattered. If workers hadn't moved the pots quickly, the plants would have wilted and died in the intense heat of the time.
Because of safety rules, only a contractor with special protective garments was allowed into the glasshouses.
The plants were moved to the National Botanic Gardens so the projects survived. The glass at the Botanic Gardens was not seriously damaged because it was made of a more robust material.
One of the projects saved is particularly special to Canberra because it involves Canberra's own orchid - Caladenia actensis (commonly known as the Canberra spider orchid).
The city's parks department was working with Dr Clements to see if the threatened plant could be introduced to areas of the ACT like Mulligans Flat and Mount Majura.
Plants were being taken to the areas in pots for a day to see if they would attract the wasps essential to their propagation.
"If we had lost the plants, we would have had to go back to square one," Dr Clements said.
While the orchid projects at CSIRO survive, the fly trap loss is serious.
Researcher Keith Bayless was trapping flies in particular areas to document the species in each micro-region. Even in Canberra, he had discovered countless new types.
But the destruction of the traps means a gap in the season so year-on-year studies are hit. There's a gap in the data.
His traps outside Canberra which have been destroyed by fire are an even greater loss. Even if he reestablishes them, there's no guarantee the same insects will return. Some may have died off or moved on.
"A lot of species have very small ranges so they'll be extinct or very hard to find."
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
