If you thought the floods gripping north and central Queensland were bad, spare a thought for the more than 50 lives lost when flood water tore through Clermont just after Christmas in 1916, sweeping away whole houses with helpless families still inside. Other regional Queensland towns were also hit by the flooding.
This chapter on the devastating floods of 1916 (though the article states 1917) tells in its matter-of-fact style of the huge human casualty of the flooding, no doubt exacerbated by the lower standard of housing.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology ranks the disaster as the worst flood in terms of lives lost in the 20th century, and the second worst in Australian history, with a final death toll of 61.
Makes you realise the wild weather hitting Queensland is by no means the worst the state has ever seen as far as flood levels and loss of life goes.
Links: Flood damaged railway bridge over the Burdekin River, 1917
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| An old article scanned in... Click on the above image to see it in 'full screen'. |
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