{"id":763,"date":"2011-01-13T21:58:40","date_gmt":"2011-01-13T10:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stumblingpast.wordpress.com\/?p=763"},"modified":"2022-08-04T00:25:41","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T00:25:41","slug":"south-east-queensland-floods-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stumblingpast.com\/2011\/01\/13\/south-east-queensland-floods-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern Queensland Floods – Again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\"1893<\/a><\/dt>\n
1893 floods in Brisbane – Queen St. in the CBD. Image from Wikimedia<\/a>.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

We have all been shocked by the devastating floods in south-east Queensland and our hearts reach out to those living through this destruction.\u00a0 This is not just a crisis in one city, it has affected much of southern Queensland where 2.5 million people live.\u00a0 Seventy towns<\/a> have been either flooded or isolated due to floods.<\/p>\n

There has been constant reference to the floods of 1974.\u00a0 The image above indicates that these floods are not an aberration – they have been occurring ever since European settlement and there is evidence of flooding prior to this.<\/p>\n

We live in a country that is very dry, often drought-stricken and prone to fierce bush fires and paradoxically suffers periodically with floods.\u00a0 Like two years ago when Victoria had\u00a0 devastating bush fires at the same time as north Queensland was suffering from severe flooding, this time southern Queensland has suffered from a huge torrent of water while firefighters in Perth, Western Australia were battling a large bushfire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Historical Records<\/h3>\n

Natural disasters such as these floods are terribly damaging to our historical records.\u00a0 All the homes that have been flooded will now have waterlogged photo albums, diaries and hard disc drives.\u00a0 In many cases owners will not be able to restore them. The best way to ensure that historical records do not get destroyed in flood or fire is to store them in the cloud.\u00a0 Backups that are stored on site or close by are just not as safe.<\/p>\n

Recently the State Library of Queensland uploaded 50,000 images to Wikimedia<\/a>.\u00a0 The library’s website is down.\u00a0 This is what the arts complex, where the library is located, looked like recently.<\/p>\n

\"Flloded<\/a>
A recent view of the south bank of Brisbane. Source: @JonoH via Nova website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The John Oxley library, where the historical records can be viewed, is located on one of the higher floors.\u00a0 However, I don’t know where the records are kept.\u00a0 Hopefully they are kept on the same floor.<\/p>\n

Well done to the library for uploading all those images to wikimedia!<\/p>\n

Brisbane<\/h3>\n

At the same time as doing a major in history at university I also majored in geography.\u00a0 We were introduced to Brisbane’s flood problem through an article by K. Rahman and T Weber, ‘Sustainable urban development in Brisbane City – the Holy Grail?’ ( <\/em>2003).\u00a0 Brisbane is prone to flooding because of flash flooding of creeks within the city due to severe thunderstorms, overland flooding due to built structures impeding and redirecting the natural path of rainwater overland and flooding of the Brisbane river (Rahman and Weber, p. 74).\u00a0 Brisbane is hilly and therefore has many valleys where floodwater accumulates.\u00a0 Unfortunately buildings have been sited in areas where floods can occur.<\/p>\n

The Bureau of Meteorology<\/a> has summarised the history of flooding in Brisbane by graph and a chronology.\u00a0 This identifies 1841 as the year when Brisbane suffered its highest flood levels.\u00a0 1893<\/a>, when the photos on this page were taken, saw flooding that almost reached the levels of 1841.\u00a0 The 1974 floods were severe but considerably lower than the floods of the nineteenth century.<\/p>\n

\"Graph<\/a>
Source: Bureau of Meteorology<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The recognition of the susceptibility of Brisbane to flooding in the nineteenth century can be seen in this flood map produced in 1893.<\/p>\n

\"Map<\/a>
Flood map of Brisbane, 1893. Source: 'Themed Mapping', Queensland government website.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nearly a year ago I stayed in the riverside suburb of Yeronga while doing my research at the John Oxley Library for my thesis.\u00a0 It was a beautiful suburb that stretched along the river.\u00a0 I spent a pleasant but hot morning walking along the banks of the river on the way to the University of Queensland.\u00a0 At the time I was grateful for how flat this stretch was.\u00a0 Unfortunately the close proximity to the river and the flat ground which I appreciated nearly a year ago are features that no Brisbane resident will appreciate today.\u00a0\u00a0 The suburb of Yeronga <\/a>is just one of many that has been invaded by the river.\u00a0 417<\/a> houses in this suburb have been immersed in floodwaters.<\/p>\n

The inescapable issue that the authorities will have to grapple with in the aftermath of this tragedy is how to plan for the future.\u00a0 These floods will occur again and again.\u00a0 New buildings and structures will need to be constructed to replace those that have been destroyed.\u00a0 Where will they be placed?<\/p>\n

An updated version of this post can be found on On Line Opinion<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

Print Sources<\/em><\/h3>\n