Cyclone Wanda

{{Short description|Deadly flood in 1974 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia}}

{{Infobox weather event

| name = 1974 Brisbane Flood

| image = 1974 flood in Brisbane, Australia.jpg

| image size =

| caption = Victoria Bridge during flood

| alt = Victoria Bridge during flood

}}{{Infobox weather event/History

| duration = 24 January – 31 January 1974

}}{{Infobox weather event/Effects

| damages = A$980 million{{cite web |url=http://www.disaster.qld.gov.au/disasters/flooding_history.asp |title=Australia's Worst Floods |publisher=Queensland Government State Disaster Management Group |date=17 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212160349/http://www.disaster.qld.gov.au/disasters/flooding_history.asp |archive-date=12 December 2009 |access-date=26 January 2018}}

| total damages (USD) =

| fatalities = 16

| affected = Ipswich, Brisbane

}}{{Infobox weather event/Footer}}

In January 1974 a flood occurred in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia after three weeks of continual rain. The Brisbane River, which runs through the heart of the city, broke its banks and flooded the surrounding areas. The cyclone that produced the flood also flooded surrounding cities: Ipswich, Beenleigh, and the Gold Coast.{{cite web |url=http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/fld_history/floodsum_1970.shtml |access-date=14 September 2019 |title=Queensland Flood Summary 1970 - 1979}}

In total, there were 16 fatalities, 300 people injured, 8,000 homes destroyed and an estimated A$980 million in damages. 13,000 properties were impacted.{{cite news |last=Loftus |first=Tobi |date=21 January 2024 |title=The 1974 floods changed Brisbane forever, with thousands of homes destroyed and 16 lives lost |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-21/1974-floods-changed-brisbane-southern-queensland-forever/103367964 |work=ABC News |access-date=21 January 2024}}

Flood waters

File:Aerial view of Brisbane City during the 1974 flood, January 1974.jpg

File:Water level marker commemorating 1974 Brisbane Flood - New Farm Park and Powerhouse, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 070202.jpg is a red steel sculpture commemorating the flood.]]

File:Water level marker commemorating Brisbane floods - Brisbane City Botanical Gardens.JPG.]]

It had been an exceptionally wet spring, and by the end of October most of southern Queensland's river systems were nearing capacity. Cyclone Wanda pushed the systems to the limit, and drew the monsoonal trough southward, providing the additional rainfall to the Brisbane River, Bremer River and Stanley River catchments to produce widespread and severe flooding. In the early morning of 25 January heavy rain began to fall on Brisbane. During a 36-hour period 642 mm of rain fell on the city.{{cite book |title=Brisbane 150 Stories |author=McBride, Frank |year=2009 |publisher=Brisbane City Council Publication |isbn=978-1-876091-60-6 |pages=256–257|display-authors=etal}} These torrential rains were caused by Wanda, a relatively weak tropical cyclone which did not even rate as a category 1 cyclone.{{cite web |title=Season 1973-1974 Tropical Cyclone WANDA Track Map |url=http://www.australiasevereweather.com/tropical_cyclones/1973_1974/jtwc/tropical_cyclone_wanda.htm |access-date=25 September 2013}}

Continual, heavy rain had fallen for three weeks, leading up to the flood, which occurred on Sunday, 27 January 1974, during the Australia Day weekend. The floods peaked at {{cvt|6.6|m|ft}} according to the Port Office gauge at high tide at 2:15 am on 29 January.{{rp|35}} The peak flooding in the location of the city gauge was approximately {{cvt|5.5|m|ft}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.bom.gov.au/hydro/flood/qld/fld_history/pk_brisbane_city.gif |title=Brisbane River at City Gauge: Highest Annual Flood Peaks |publisher=Bureau of Meteorology, Commonwealth of Australia |access-date=12 January 2011}}

Damage

Large areas were inundated, with at least 6,700 homes flooded. Around 13,000 buildings were affected by flooding in some way.{{cite book |title=Building Brisbane's History: Structure, Sculptures, Stories and Secrets |last=Gregory |first=Helen |author2=Dianne Mclay |year=2010 |publisher=Woodslane Press |location=Warriewood, New South Wales |isbn=9781921606199 |page=148}} Buildings in the Brisbane central business district were particularly hard hit.

The 67,320 tonne Robert Miller broke its moorings at Kangaroo Point swinging out into the river held by two emergency anchors that the shipyard had placed as a precaution. When the first responders, consisting of the shipyard manager, Bill Dransfield, legendary rigger Fred Cotton and another shipyard employee, Billy Pinell managed to climb on board after hitching a ride on a small boat whose skipper braved the raging torrent, the men found that one anchor had been lost with clench pins sheared through and the remaining anchor only secured by the last clench pin which had failed but jammed the chain. After using steel scaffold tube and other construction materials to secure that anchor the attention then focussed on starting the ship’s main engine which had not yet been fully commissioned. With permission from the engine's maker the engine was able to generate some but not full propulsion and in combination with steering the ship around the worst debris damage was kept to a minimum.

Because the ship was 237 metres long and the river was about 255 metres wide, it was feared that the ship could form a dam across the river. This would have caused the river to rise by a further 3 metres, leading to even greater flooding in the suburbs.{{Cite news |url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/special-features/brisbane-1974-floods-remembered/news-story/470fd90164bccf8a422c1cee2c105144 |title=Brisbane '74: Long weekend from hell |last=Freudenberg |first=John |date=20 January 2014 |work=The Courier-Mail |access-date=23 May 2018}} Two tugboats which managed to travel up the river arriving some hours after the initial rescue, were needed to control the 15 m high and 239 m long oil tanker.{{cite web |url=http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/fld_reports/brisbane_jan1974.pdf |title=Brisbane floods January 1974: Report by Director of Meteorology |publisher=Bureau of Meteorology, Commonwealth of Australia |location=Canberra |year=1974 |access-date= 25 September 2013}}{{rp|38}} The Robert Miller was the largest ship ever built in Australia at the time.{{Cite news |url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/the-boat-that-almost-became-a-ruinous-dam-20110116-19sey.html |title=The boat that almost became a ruinous dam |author=Geoff Strong |access-date=20 February 2011 |date=17 January 2011 |work=Brisbane Times |publisher=Fairfax Digital}}

A gravel barge became caught under the Centenary Bridge where it damaged the pylons, causing fear that the bridge would be swept away. The barge was sunk to reduce the risk.{{rp|38}}

The most flood-affected suburb of Brisbane was Rocklea.{{cite web |url=http://queenslandplaces.com.au/rocklea |title=Rocklea |work=Queensland Places |publisher=Centre for the Government of Queensland |access-date=22 September 2012}}

Close to Ipswich, 1,800 premises were affected by flooding.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12165808 |title=Queensland rebuilding 'huge task' |author=Gary Kitchener |access-date=20 February 2011 |date=11 January 2011 |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217080842/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12165808 |archive-date= 17 February 2011 |url-status=live}}

The Nerang River flooded, cutting the Gold Coast off from Brisbane. About 2,000 people were evacuated from homes along the river and the canals; most of these homes suffered flood damage.

The total damage in Brisbane and the surrounding areas was initially estimated at {{nowrap|A$200 million}},{{rp|8}} but the final value was over {{nowrap|A$980 million}} (1974 values), with {{nowrap|$328 million}} made in insurance claims. While not as high as the floods in the 1800s this flood is considered to have been worse due to Brisbane's rapidly increasing population at the time.

Many houses were also damaged by land subsidence and land slippage associated with the flooding and high rainfall.{{rp|8}}

Fatalities

Sixteen people lost their lives, including twelve people who were drowned in Brisbane and Ipswich.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/history/eastern.shtml |title=Historical Impacts Along The East Coast |publisher=Bureau of Meteorology |language=en |access-date=26 January 2018}}

The first flood related deaths were at 11:20pm on 24 January. Raymond Roy Davidson (29 years, from Wacol) and Hazel Dulcie Afflick (40 years) were killed in a head-on collision at Wacol, both drivers being blinded by gale-force winds and heavy rain.{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Malcolm |title=Australia's Worst Disasters |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Q01AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT167 |year=2010 |publisher=Hachette Australia |isbn=9780733626111 |page=167}}

An army amphibious LARC vehicle was carrying out excavation work at Bellbowrie when the vehicle hit submerged power lines which were still live. Two men, Corporal Neville Hourigan and Captain Ian Kerr of the Australian Army Reserve (then called the Citizens Military Force) were thrown from the vehicle. Bill Lickiss jumped into the water to save them and another CMF soldier, Corporal Ray Ruddy, swam from his undamaged vessel to take control of LARC 05. Hourigan died at the scene and Kerr's body was found after the flood had subsided. Lickiss and Ruddy were both awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.{{cite news |url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/special-features/brisbane-1974-floods-remembered/story-fnkn776z-1226801385846 |title=Brisbane '74: Long weekend from hell |publisher=Courier-Mail |date=24 January 2014}}

A young child, Shane David Patterson (of Yeronga) was swept from his father's arms on a causeway over Oxley Creek in Inala and drowned.

In addition to those that drowned, Robert Adams (aged 56 years) died of a heart attack during an evacuation of a caravan park at Newmarket. Aidan Sutton, a civilian working with the Queensland Police, aged 50 years, returned home to St Lucia for his reading glasses and was swept away in the flood waters, his body found in a tree.

Flood mitigation

File:Wivenhoe dam wall.jpg was built approximately 80 km upstream from Brisbane after the 1974 floods.]]

As a result of the flood, planning for the Wivenhoe Dam included flood mitigation as well as its original water supply purpose.{{cite web |title=Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams |url=http://www.cabinet.qld.gov.au/MMS/MediaAttachments/2010/pdf/32253%20SEQWG%20Wivenhoe%20Fact%20Sheet%20A4%202pp%20F.pdf |work=SEQ Water Grid |publisher=The Queensland Cabinet and Ministerial Directory |access-date=13 January 2011}}

The flood was a defining event for a generation of Brisbane residents.[http://www.4wdaustralia.com.au/Forum/Topic/65393/Sunday_History_Photo_Qld.aspx]. 4WD Australia. Retrieved on 28 April 2015. In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the 1974 Brisbane flood was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "Defining Moment".{{Cite web |url=http://statements.qld.gov.au/statement/id/64301 |title=PREMIER UNVEILS QUEENSLAND'S 150 ICONS |last=Bligh |first=Anna|author-link=Anna Bligh |date=10 June 2009 |publisher=Queensland Government |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524033717/http://statements.qld.gov.au/statement/id/64301 |archive-date=24 May 2017 |access-date=24 May 2017}}

The renewed awareness of the flood hazard in this rapidly growing region gave the state an opportunity to significantly re-think flood management and mitigation practices. This opportunity was missed, and the introduction of the [https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/act-1990-061 Local Government (Planning and Environment) Act 1990] largely upheld conventional planning and development. The dependence on dams was confirmed; a flood plan policy was not introduced until the 21st century. Only 36 years later, the region suffered another disaster of similar magnitude during the 2010–11 Queensland floods.{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Margaret |title=A River with a City Problem |date=2019 |publisher=University of Queensland Press |location=St Lucia, Qld |isbn=9780702260438 |url=https://www.margaretcookhistorian.com.au/about |access-date=31 January 2021}}

References

External links

[https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20090317054300/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/96122/20090317-1643/www.bom.gov.au/lam/climate/levelthree/c20thc/flood7.html The "Big Wet", Bureau of Meteorology]{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
[http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/fld_history/brisbane_history.shtml Known Floods in the Brisbane and Bremer River Basin, Bureau of Meteorology]
[https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1550980 Flood map of Brisbane & suburbs / drawn and published at the Survey Office, Department of Lands, Brisbane, Feb. 1974 (Link via National Library of Australia)]
[https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/act-1990-061 Local Government (Planning and Environment) Act 1990]
[https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99291003402061 Gary Golding 1974 Brisbane Flood Video] - State Library of Queensland
[https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99260643402061 1974 Flood Recordings Oral History January 1974], State Library of Queensland
[https://collections.slq.qld.gov.au/viewer/134115204 API-84 1974 Flood Photograph Album: Digitised images] - State Library of Queensland
[https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99260653402061 Washed Away, 1974 Brisbane Flood Oral History 1974] - State Library of Queensland
[https://collections.slq.qld.gov.au/viewer/129823318 Ann Shevill's St Lucia Flood Photographs: Digitised images] - State Library of Queensland
[https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/1dejkfd/alma99250233402061 Eric Gaehler Collection 1974], State Library of Queensland