Floods in New South Wales

The Australian state of New South Wales, since colonisation, has been subjected to devastating flooding in its rivers.

Floods were experienced early in European settlement – Gundagai's flood of the early 19th century is still one of the highest tolls of disasters of its type.

Floods can devastate local communities, but they also impact the entire economy (Hanson, J. 2011). New South Wales, Australia, has experienced the effects of what a flood can do to a community.

Australia experienced its worst flooding disasters in 2010 and 2011 with a series of floods occurring in several states between March 2010 and February 2011. (Cheong, F & Cheong C. 2011). This flood was deemed to be one of the worst floods Australia and New South Wales had experienced.

Gundagai floods

Gundagai is a small town situated in New South Wales, Australia. By the morning of Thursday, June 24 the township was isolated and incredibility wet, with almost three weeks of heavy rain. It is believed that at least 89 people perished as a result flood. This accounts for at least 35 per cent of the population of Gundagai in 1852. (Doubleday, W). 2012). Floods had occurred here before in 1844, but the 1852 flood was larger with a higher death toll. (Lawson, M. 2013).

Hunter Valley floods, 1955

The Hunter Valley Flood in New South Wales occurred on the 23rd of February 1955. Heavy rain had covered the east coast of Australia and torrential rain hit the Hunter Valley. With such intense rain falling on already saturated ground the Hunter, along with several westward-flowing rivers, soon reached unprecedented levels. (Hunter Valley, n.d.). Twenty-five lives were lost and a total of 7000 buildings and homes were damaged. The total cost of the flood in today’s currency, was approximately $1.3 Billion. The cleanup from the flood took months and as time passed homes were being restored and businesses were commencing to reopen.

Northern New South Wales floods, 2012

Heavy rain begun falling over Queensland, Australia is early 2012. Heavy rains then moved south resulting in floods in central and western Victoria, NSW and Tasmania. Bliss, S. 2011). The flooding event of March 2012 saw 75 percent of New South Wales under flood warnings, forcing evacuations and natural disaster declarations. (NSW & VIC Flooding, 2012). It was estimated that 16,500 people across New South Wales were isolated. With many parts of the NSW still under water it was impossible to gauge the damage to public and private infrastructure - which could run as high as $1 billion. (Financial Review, 2012).

See also

• 1955 Hunter Valley floods
• 1956 Murray River flood
• Floods in Australia
• June 2007 Hunter Region and Central Coast storms
• List of disasters in Australia by death toll

External links

• Current flood warnings by river catchment from BOM