Floods are not new to Queensland. We can look back to the 1840s to see the effects of rising rivers on low lying areas. In the 1890s there were a series of huge floods which devastated Brisbane and Ipswich.
Fortitude Valley is inundated along with most of the inner city in February 1893 during the disastrous Brisbane and Ipswich floods.
Image No. 0630 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
In April 1949 heavy rains resulted in rail and road traffic being suspended. Bridges were cut by Behanna Creek, Babinda Creek and Russell River.
Up to their ankles, police officers and a traffic control vehicle help out during the Cairns flood, 1949.
Image No. 1249 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
Major flooding occurred throughout the State during January 1974. Record flooding of Bulloo, Paroo, Flinders, Norman, Gilbert, Cooper, Diamantina, Georgina, Eyre, Nerang, Bremer, Warrill and Logan rivers and creeks occurred. Metropolitan Brisbane was also severly flooded, after Cyclone Wanda provided additional torrential rainfall to the Brisbane River catchment.
Police officers in their Ford Falcon 500, block access to a flooded Brisbane road in January, 1974.
Image No. 3413 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
In 1990 Charleville went under water by quite a few meters and the whole town had to be evacuated. These images illustrate that during floods police officers are usually in the thick of things, sometimes to the detriment of their own health and safety in their efforts to undertake their duties.
The only exit is by boat – the view from the back of Charleville Police Barracks during the 1990 flood.
Image No. 0086 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
In modern times Queensland Police work in partnership with emergency services to keep people and property safe. But in times past, police officers were often the only emergency personnel on the ground.
Police officers plan their next move during the Julia Creek floods of 2009.
Image courtesy of the QPS Media and Public Affairs Branch
If you want to read about the history of Queensland floods visit the Bureau of Meteorology site visit http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/fld_history/index.shtml
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“It’s raining again…floods and police work” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence.
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