Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Brisbane Floods

Brisbane 1974 Floods

In January 1974, the city of Brisbane in the State of Queensland was flooded due to a combination of sustained rain over several months, high tides and heavy rain caused by Tropical Cyclone Wanda. The floods peaked at 6.6 metres on 29 January and nearly 7,000 homes were destroyed.

Today, the population of Brisbane is battling flooding once again with a flood peak expected at 2:30PM today. Please consider donating to the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal to help those whose lives have been devastated by this natural disaster.

brisbane-floods-homes

Did you know that the common architectural style of homes in Queensland, known as the Queenslander, was designed to help keep homes cool in summer and to offer some protection from flooding? The design involves building the house on large stumps with the main living areas being a full storey off the ground. Quite useful as this picture from the 1974 floods demonstrates.

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