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History
- Australia's worst floods
The
1974 Brisbane Flood
was triggered by the weakening Cyclone Wanda which crossed the
Queensland coast on 24 January some 150 kilometres north of Brisbane.
The cyclone caused minor wind damage, but added heavy rainfall
to an already saturated river catchment. Furthermore it triggered
the monsoonal air mass over southern Queensland into periods of
intense rain over a five day period.
 Among
the highest recordings were 1,318 mm (almost 60 inches); whilst
in Brisbane itself 819 mm of rain fell, producing the worst city
flooding in Australian history.
16 people
died and 300 people were injured. 8,000 people were made homeless
and 56 homes were swept away while1,600 homes were largely submerged.
In all 13,000 buildings were affected with insurance claims totalling
about $328 million. The total estimated cost however was closer
to $980 million (in 1974 values), with road and bridge repairs
alone costing $112 million.
Above
right:
Brisbane's Riverside Expressway 1974. 1
1990 Great Floods
The April/May
1990 floods in Australia were anything but great! They covered
more than 1 million square kilometres of Queensland and New South
Wales and a smaller area in Victoria. In central-southern Queensland
and central-northern New South Wales, continual, heavy rains caused
partly by cyclones drenched the flat inland plains. Further torrential
rainfalls created almost instant floods.
In both states
road and rail links were severed for long periods. Floodwaters
invaded towns and many communities and properties were isolated.
Emergency services were stretched to the limit to provide essential
rescues, evacuations and food drops.
 In
Charleville, over 80% of the town (of about 3000 people) was flooded,
inundating all services. Hospital patients were evacuated and
more than 2,000 residents were moved to higher ground at the airport.
Across three
affected states, the Great Floods of 1990 claimed 7 lives, caused
60 injuries and left 5,000 people temporarily homeless. The total
estimated cost of these floods was $415 million (in 1990 values),
most of which was uninsured.
Above:
Flooding
in suburban Townsville. 2
1.
Photo courtesy of Courier Mail
2. Photo courtesy
of Cairns Post
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