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The 1893 Brisbane flood, occasionally referred to as the Great Flood of 1893 or the Black February flood, occurred in 1893 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Brisbane River burst its banks on three occasions in February 1893. It was the occurrence of three major floods in the same month that saw the period named "Black February". There was also a fourth flood event later in the same year in June. The river runs through the center of Brisbane with much of the population living in areas besides the river. It was flooded in the first flood on 6 February due to a deluge associated with a tropical cyclone, called "Buninyong". The second cyclone struck on 11 February, causing relatively minor flooding compared to the first flood. When the third cyclone came on 19 February, it was almost as devastating as the first, and it left up to one third of Brisbane's residents homeless. This time however the flood in the Brisbane River was largely from waters from the upper reaches of Brisbane River, rather than the Stanley River.[3] The 1893 floods caused 35 deaths. The southern regions of the city were most affected by the flood. The most flooded suburb of what was to become the City of Brisbane was Rocklea.[13] However, it only housed a small village and farms at that time. Both of the bridges that crossed the river, the Victoria Bridge and the Albert Bridge at Indooroopilly were destroyed.[5] The Victoria Bridge, which was an iron bridge with a turning span to allow traffic to go upriver, was partially destroyed on Monday 6 February, when the northern half of the bridge was washed away. It was not replaced until 1897. In the meantime, ferries were used to transport people and goods across the busy river. This, however, led to the capsize of the ferry ‘’Pearl’’ disaster in 1896 with the loss of more than 40 lives. The great advances in technology associated with photography meant that there were many photos taken of the event, some of which still exist today. A local businessman who would later become Premier, Robert Philp had a photo album (a very expensive item at the time) of the floods, which survives today. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1893_Brisbane_flood

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