The 1974 Brisbane Flood was triggered by the weakening Cyclone Wanda which crossed the Queensland coast on 24 January some 150 kilometres north of Brisbane. The cyclone caused minor wind damage, but added heavy rainfall to an already saturated river catchment. Furthermore it triggered the monsoonal air mass over southern Queensland into periods of intense rain over a five day period.
Among the highest recordings were 1,318 mm whilst in Brisbane itself 819 mm of rain fell, producing the worst city flooding in Australian history.
16 people died and 300 people were injured. 8,000 people were made homeless and 56 homes were swept away while1,600 homes were largely submerged. In all 13,000 buildings were affected.

 

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