1956 Murray River flood
The 1956 Murray River flood involved the rising of waters in the Murray River and flooding of many towns in three states of Australia, including the towns of Colignan, Iraak, Mannum, Murray Bridge, Mildura, Nangiloc, Red Cliffs, Renmark,[1] Wentworth and many others.
The flood occurred due to higher than average rainfalls in Western Queensland and heavy rains in the proceeding three months in Murray catchment areas,[2] peaking at 12.3 metres at Morgan, South Australia.[2] Some areas were flooded up to 100 km from the natural flow of the river.
The flood was and still is considered the biggest flood in the recorded history of the River Murray and described as "the greatest catastrophe in South Australia’s history".[3]
As a result of the flood, the Menindee Lakes were constructed to store high flows from the Darling River.[2]
Impact
Mannum
Hotels in the main street of Mannum operated their bars from the second floor with boats tying up to the balcony. The flood water broke the levee bank on 24 August, and had not fully receded until Christmas. To many locals it is common knowledge that the beginning of the roof on the Visitors' Centre in Main Street was the height in Main Street.[4]
Mildura
In 2006, historic flood markers were erected at Apex Park and the lawns of the Mildura Rowing Club at Mildura, indicating the height the river reached in 1956. Additional markers are to be erected at various locations along the river from Wentworth to Colignan.[5] Several towns in South Australia also have depth markers showing how high the floodwaters rose.
Wentworth
The New South Wales town of Wentworth, located on the junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers, erected a statue in 1959 in honour of the Fergie TE20 tractor, responsible for helping to erect a levee around the town which kept floodwaters at bay for months. A tractor rally is also held every five years to celebrate the Fergie.[6]
References
- ↑ Renmark's Railway Flood Operations 1931 and 1956 Shields, B.P. Australian Railway History, March 2004 pp88-91
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Past droughts and floods, Accessed 15 September 2007
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 1956 flood markers in place[dead link], Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 25 October 2006
- ↑ The 1956 flood of Wentworth[dead link], Mildura Tourism Inc, Accessed 14 September 2007
External links
- 1956 River Murray Flood at State Library of South Australia
- 1956 Flood at Culture Victoria
- Articles with dead external links from April 2015
- Use dmy dates from September 2011
- Use Australian English from September 2011
- All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
- Pages with broken file links
- Murray River
- History of New South Wales
- History of Victoria (Australia)
- History of South Australia
- Disasters in Victoria (Australia)
- Disasters in South Australia
- 1956 in Australia
- 1956 floods
- Floods in New South Wales
- Floods in Australia
