floods

I wonder if any of my family are in this photo, they lived there from 1880 to 1930. 12 kids.

WARWICK. RAPID RISE OF THE CONDAMINE. (From the Warwick Argus of the 14th February.) After nearly a week of muggy but generally fine weather rain set in again in the Warwick district soon after nightfall on Friday. The wind had settled down to a steady blow from the east, just as it had done during the previous week, when the coast districts were deluged; but for the first few hours the showers were not heavy. This was only the prelude, however. Shortly before 1 o'clock on Saturday morning steady drenching rain commenced to fall. Daylight brought no change, and as the morning wore on it became evident that Warwick's turn had come, and that the people residing on the banks of the Condamine and its tributaries must prepare for a flood. With the details of the Brisbane and Ipswich disasters still fresh in everyone's memory, the prospect was viewed with more than usual alarm. Mr. Cosgrove, manager of the local telegraph office, was early at his post, and supplied news of the state of the Condamine at Killarney, and its tributaries at Yangan and Emu Vale, at frequent intervals throughout the day. The news was not of a reassuring nature. The rain was general all along with the range country to the eastward, and before noon the watercourses were all full. The midday bulletin reported a rise of 23ft. in the Condamine at Killarney, some 19ft. in Swan Creek at Yangan, and rather less in Emu Creek at Emu Vale. About 4 in the afternoon the rain ceased for a while, and Killarney reported a fall of 3ft., but later on, it began to come down as hard as ever. The guard of the train which left Kil- larney at 8 o'clock brought news that the water was over the plain at Killarney; at Tannymorel the flood in Farm Creek had pushed the railway bridge slightly out of perpendicular; at Emu Vale one of the traffic bridges had already been carried away; and Swan Creek was nearly 19ft. above its normal level at Yangan. At 8 p.m. Yangan reported, " Still raining hard; no sign clearing; if this continues you must prepare for the worst.". Emu Vale wired, " Raining heavily; am removing my family to higher ground." And word came by road that the Condamine waters at Murray's Bridge were already within a few feet of the highest level previously recorded. The corporation boat was got ready, and a the crew organised to man her; a special messenger was sent down the river to warn the people at Sandy Creek and Toolburra at the Telegraph Stores 'Mr. De Conlay had a large number of hands busily engaged in placing perishable goods above flood mark; the police vacated the barracks and took up their quarters in the court-house, and Mr. Cosgrove, who remained on duty until after midnight, managed to get his instruments well above the reach of any reasonable inundation. It was felt that much depended on the state of Rosenthal Creek, which junctions with the Condamine just above Warwick; a flood in that tributary, discharging its waters simultaneously with the arrival of the waters from the east would mean a serious loss of property. Up to the latest accounts, there had been no serious rise in Rosenthal Creek, but as it was still raining steadily it was feared that this state of things would not continue. The Swan Creek waters came down about 9 o'clock, and there was a rapid rise in the Condamine from that hour until 3 on Sunday morning. Soon after this the waters reached their highest level— 22ft. 6in. by the gauges board at the railway bridge" or about 8ft. 6in. below the 1887 level. Rosenthal Creek was not flooded, a fact which proved the inundation of much valuable property. Even as it was many of the settlers on the banks of the creeks and river will be heavy losers. All the low-lying land about the junction of Dauchar's The creek was submerged; the crops in the cultivation areas of Messrs. P. Hartigan, H. Taylor, and J. Guilfoyle, and the Chinese gardens were seriously damaged, if not destroyed. The Flat, as the site of the old town of Warwick, is called, was almost entirely covered, the water reaching halfway across Fitzroy-street, between Albion and Canning-street on the one side, and almost to the Telegraph! Stores on the other. The Queen's Park, on which the annual show of the Eastern Downs Society was to have been held to-day, was covered to a depth varying from 6in. to 6ft. 6in., but happily no damage was done to the improvements recently erected, and the park itself has suffered little or no damage from its docking. The approaches to the bridges over the Condamine in Helene-street and Victoria-street were from 4ft. to 6ft. under water; communication was interrupted for a time, and some damage was done to the bridges. Considerable areas of the racecourse and the Pocket was submerged, but not to any great depth. The water receded slowly, and it was not until after nightfall on Sunday that they were once more confined within the banks. There was no loss of human life, and, as far as we Can ascertain, livestock had been removed out of danger in good time. Heavy steady rain fell for some hours on Sunday night, giving rise to some fear of a fresh flood, but the water continued to recede slowly all through the night, And by yesterday afternoon was down to within 11ft, or 12ft. of the normal level. Source: The Queenslander. 25 Feb 1893 trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/20339095

Morris Oxford MO

Wonderful photo. So interesting. What a struggle for those men.