Droughts and Flooding Rains
 

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KNOWN FLOODS IN THE BRISBANE & BREMER RIVER BASIN (INCLUDING THE CITIES OF BRISBANE AND IPSWICH)

Natural Hazards & the risks they pose to South-East QUEENSLAND

A contemporary account (Brisbane Courier, 6 February, 1893) illustrates the impact of that flood in Brisbane as follows:

Dwelling houses commenced to come down the river in earnest at about 3.30 p.m. on Saturday, and from that time on to Sunday night fully 100 houses and large sheds must have passed the bridge.

It was marvellous to see the way in which even the largest dwellings were crushed up against the piers and girders. All the houses which had previously been wrecked floated down square, with their corrugated iron roofs showing. On contact with the bridge the edifices were crushed up instantly.

The crushing sound - heard for a mile - told its own tale of misfortune. So continuous and terrible was the crashing of houses on Saturday night that many persons living near the bridge found it impossible to sleep, what with the noise and the consciousness of other people’s misfortune.

Most of the houses were furnished and no-one could say with certainty that some of them were not occupied by human beings, who were thus hurled to eternity without the power to make the slightest effort to save themselves.

At Toowong on Saturday night screams were frequently heard from across the river. A resident of Toowong informs us that from Emma Street a row of three houses could be seen on the south side.

Loud noises as of timber collapsing were heard at about 10 p.m. on Saturday, and a light was seen in one of the houses. A minute later the three houses had gone.

Since 1893, the largest flood in the Brisbane-Bremer system was that caused by tropical cyclone Wanda in January 1974. The same system was also responsible for the most severe twentieth century flooding in the lower reaches of the Albert and Logan River system and the Nerang River.

Although a flood of smaller magnitude than the 1893 floods, its impact remains the most severe example of urban flooding in Australia to date.

The 1974 flood caused widespread damage in Brisbane and Ipswich. Flooding from the Brisbane River alone was reported, at the time, as causing at least $200 million worth of damage.
A minimum of 13 000 properties were affected. This figure does not include flood losses in Brisbane resulting from the various local creek catchments, and the severe flooding of the Bremer
River affecting Ipswich.

Summary