Historical flooding in Melbourne

[crikey]

Now and again l think it is good to be reminded as to just how severe weather can get.
Historical weather records tells us stories of extremes.

I just wonder if Melbourne is ready for history to repeat itself.? ....... Evacuation procedures in our highly populated city??

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/ ... 07154.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"It was a torrential downpour that only lasted about 17 minutes," says Bowler. "I was in charge of The Age picture desk at the time, and the editor, Greg Taylor, came down and asked me if I could organise a picture of the rains

The 1972 flood in Elizabeth Street, captured by Walkley Award-winning Age photographer, Neville Bowler.

"We got half way down Bourke Street and couldn't go any further - the street was underwater. I said to my brother, 'Here's my wallet. I'm going out to get some pictures.' I walked through the old State Bank building and got down in the water and started snapping away."

Bowler says all the pedestrian walkways around Degraves Street were flooded out, and people were opening their car doors to let out the gushing water. After taking his photographs, with the waters continuing to rise, Bowler found himself stuck in the middle of a raging torrent.

"Another photographer on the scene, I think his name was Peter, pulled me out by my arm," recalls Bowler.

The famous image of the Elizabeth Street flood ran on the front page of The Age the next day.

Here are some more 'snip-its' of our past, taken from the link above

The most significant flood in Melbourne's recorded history, now referred to as the "great flood of 1891", occurred after two days and two nights of rainfall, and caused the Yarra to swell to 305 metres wide.

According to The Age report from the time, 3000 people, mainly in the inner-city suburbs of Richmond, Collingwood and Prahran, had to vacate their houses and two large lakes formed on the east and west sides of Chapel Street.

"The flood arose so rapidly in the night that one resident reported plunging his arm into water as he stretched, awaking to the real danger of being drowned in his bed," reported The Age.

In 1934, ferocious storms caused widespread destruction throughout the entire city. Eighteen people drowned, including one in the Yarra, and 6000 were left homeless.

"In the great flood of 1891, there's the story of a man who spent several days literally just rowing between houses to save people from the upper levels.



As if floods didn't pose enough of a threat to developing Melbourne, fire was an ever-present danger, as in 1897 when a great fire reportedly destroyed the entire block between Swanston and Elizabeth streets, and Flinders Street and Flinders Lane.

[Lily]

Thanks for that Crikey. I'm just trying to imagine the Yarra at 305m wide The Age photograph is a famous one indeed, have seen that a few times now. Really quite mind blowing to see the middle of town looking like that!

There was an article in the Age only a week or so back about (believe it or not) the collar of a dog in Melbourne who saved a man's life, might be the same flood that your article refers to in 1891? I'll see if I can find it....

Back. Not 1891, but 1881! What a clever puppy Nelson was <3

PRECISELY 130 years ago a flood came to Melbourne and a pooch named Nelson, who had no fear of raging waters, became famous for his bravery.

All these years later, Nelson, the dog who saved a man from drowning in Swanston Street, has not been forgotten. He's about to be granted a form of immortality by the National Museum of Australia, which has just paid $3000 to add his collar to its collection.

Nelson was a Newfoundland owned by Melbourne city tobacconist W. Higginbotham. On November 15, 1881, Elizabeth and Swanston streets were turned into raging rivers as a storm broke, dumping heavy rain for more than an hour, according to Dr Martha Sear, senior curator at the museum.

The founders of Melbourne had made the mistake of building the streets over a depression that had always fed stormwater towards the Yarra. The driver of a horse-drawn cab, Thomas Brown, found himself swept into the torrent at the intersection of Swanston and Lonsdale streets. Brown, it was reported, was shrieking for help.

Nelson answered the call. Newfoundland dogs were bred by fishermen, their webbed feet, water-resistant coats and strong bodies combining with a powerful instinct for retrieval to make them valued for saving people and cargo from shipwrecks.

Nelson reportedly leapt into the stream and seized Brown's clothing. It gave way and the cab driver was carried down the block. Nelson raced after Brown, and near the corner of Little Bourke Street, grabbed him again, but still couldn't hold him. Brown disappeared beneath a covered channel and appeared lost. When he reappeared, still alive, Nelson caught him again and lost him for the third time. The cab driver was dragged by the water towards a channel under Bourke Street. This time it seemed certain death awaited, but Nelson, with the help of Higginbotham and a Mr Mates, made a last lunge and this time dragged him to safety. The rescue was reported and acclaimed. What became of Nelson, his owner or Brown is not recorded.

But this month, when Sotheby's in Melbourne advertised Nelson's collar for auction, the National Museum did its research. Here was a small treasure, complete with a verifiable story. The only detail missing - and it may always remain a mystery, according to a museum spokesman - was whether the collar was Nelson's before the rescue, or whether it was presented to him in thanks.

Sotheby's price guide was $3000-$4000. The museum's bidders sat on their hands at the auction, noted a lack of interest in the object and bought it the next day for $3000 by private treaty. And Nelson finally gained a lasting position in the Australian story.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/nelso ... z1etlAG4G4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Lily]

Here's an image of the 1891 event from http://emhs.org.au/catalogue/emdf0017" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; 1st August, 1891, East Melbourne, Punt Road Railway Bridge, looking east from the embankment.





And some interesting info on flooding of the Yarra at the Melbourne end from http://www.yarrariver.info/history.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (actually, the whole article is quite interesting, worth a read ).

Floods on the Yarra
Melbourne's quietly flowing Yarra River was not always so.

Severe flooding was a regular feature of the narrow, twisting original watercourse. The first flood was recorded in 1839. The biggest recorded flood - in 1891- saw the water rise 14 metres higher than normal. It destroyed 200 houses in Collingwood and Richmond.

A bar of rock, located opposite today's Crown Casino, banked-up water, which regularly flooded South Melbourne and kept much of the land south of the Yarra as permanent swamp.

A lengthy program of works was carried out from the late 1880s to help alleviate the flooding. The rock bar was blasted and the river was widened and straightened, including construction of the 1.5 km Coode Canal at Fishermen Bend.

The removal of a major bend and lagoons upstream of Princes Bridge helped the river to flow more directly to the sea. The new retaining walls and boulevards of trees planted between the bridge and the Botanic Gardens created the classic vistas of the city skyline that we still enjoy.

Between 1924 and 1929, the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works removed 24,400 items of natural debris from the river to improve flood control and navigation. In 1929 a severe loop in the river at Burnley was eliminated by cutting a canal to make a straight, wide section. Herring Island was created in the process.

The Yarra's last great flood was in 1934.

[droughtbreaker]

The flood must have been July 1891 when over a two day period on the 12th and 13th, upwards of 200mm fell over the Yarra Valley and 100-150mm over the inner suburbs and city. Rainfall was less inland and west of Melbourne (more like 40-100mm) so I can only imagine it was a strong and slow moving cut off low with cyclonic SW winds.

The December 1934 event was insane with some localities in the Dandenongs recording 500mm+ over the first two days of the month, and many suburbs (including Melbourne CBD) recording 200mm+. Many other parts of southern and eastern VIC picked up 50-150mm but in the west and north (excluding NE VIC) of the state there was much less

[crikey]

Thanks LILY and drought breaker. I had no idea about those floods until today.
Great research and good finds . Just amazing

I hope the work done to alleviate flooding back then was sufficient.
I had images of The Burnley tunnel flooded and collapsing . The Melbourne underground.filled with water The southern cross station flooded and images of trams floating down the street.

I wonder if the powers that be have ever done an assessment to see if those levels of rain will ever create a disaster again like that in Melbourne and suburbs.
When ever l drive past the maryibinong river l look at the depth of the water course there and think of the flow of water that has carved that out over time? and the flood plains near the Calder hwy heading in to Melbourne?

Have we ever had that level of rainfall since then, to test if the modifications to the yarra and storm water run offs into the yarra are adequate for a similar event.
In other words l am asking. Is it possible this could happen again in Melbourne in the future?

Are there guidelines from the Victorian flood mitigation people that give SES or police a guide as when to evacuate areas around the river. Like Brisbane have.
I mean if 500mm were forecast up or down stream what would be the procedure?

[oz1235]

December 1934 flood was quite big out here in the Koo Wee Rup and Dandenong.

I remember seeing a photo of Lonsdale and Foster st Dandenong in Flood. Can not remember where i saw it.

There was about 7 inches(if I remember) of rain feel in 24 hours in Tynong but the cause of the flooding of the Koo Wee Rup was even more servere because Tree feel across the hills of Koo Wee Rup Swamp area causing the Rain to bank up and then rush down into the swamp. The whole Koo Wee Rup flood stretch up to just outside Pakenham, Garfield and Bunyip.

There was a witness who said that outside the Garfield Pub(IONA PUB now) It was like a mirage in the distance with the Water in the distance.

Koo Wee Rup was saved of having houses fully inadated up to the roof thanks to the Railway Line being elevated