The 1996 Queensland Floods
Normal view from the Global Office... paradise on the banks of the Brisbane river.
The photos (left untampered, pic right red line showing where banks and islands used to be) were taken during the course of the day... After a week of
constant rain and nearly 12 inches of rain in the last 24 hours, the Brisbane river started to feel the effect of the
run-off. When I got up at "sparrows" to enter the News of the day I looked out of the window and saw that
the Brisbane river below our home had risen quite dramatically. In fact it rose 9 metres during the day, cutting off Colleges Crossing -
our access to Ipswich and the Moggil road (thanks to the Kholo Creek) our access to the big smoke (Brisbane). Karana Downs had,
in effect, become a massive island cut off from civilisation.We heard tonight at 6pm (half an hour ago) that the Wivenhoe dam with a capacity bigger than that of Sydney harbour would open its gates into the Brisbane river. We are still 20 metres above the water level but are now aware that large areas of Ipswich and low lying areas around Brisbane have been evacuated because of flooding. Many homes are now under water.
As I write this the rain pours incessently and hard outside. We had 2" of rain in the last 12 hours and it pours harder now.
And all this before the great Wivenhoe dam lets forth a path of destruction which must follow later tonight.
Now the dam was built to stop the devastation that the 100 year flood of 1974 caused. Could it cause more damage than if natural flow had been allowed - this is the question we will get the answer for in the next few days as the 1974 flood reached 2 metres below the foundations of our home 30 metres above the natural level of the Brisbane river!
Picture taken from 2 metres above the flood line looking up at the global office
on the morning of 3rd May 1996.
The strangest thing is that the power is on, I can communicate with the world through the Internet and yet I cannot physically drive 2 kilometres because all roads have been cut by the floods. The scary thing is that the middle of the river is flowing very fast and is now full of debris, man's barriers have been of no avail when they were most needed and the river has fearsome eddies and currents that tug at anything loose on the bank pulling it into the devastation that is now the river.
We have 20 metres of security - tomorrow we will be in a better position to see how 1996 will compare to the floods of 1974.
The 1996 Royal Australian Air Force Air Show has been called off tomorrow and Sunday is now doubtful. The power of nature over the greatest military might reflects man's real place in this world that we like to dominate.
Tomorrow the 4th May 1996 I will post pictures of the river's new level and further information about the flood.
Return to the great flood of 1996