Sunday History Photo / SA

Submitted: Sunday, Jan 09, 2011 at 06:50
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River dwellers, farmers and business people have seen their homes and properties submerged and often damaged beyond repair. Big floods mean great trauma to some people and they often do not recover.
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The 1956 River Murray flood is considered to be the greatest catastrophe in South Australia's history and is the largest flood ever recorded in the state. 1917, 1931 and the floods of the nineteenth century had been large, but nothing like this. The flood occurred due to excessive, heavy rains in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria which supplied the interstate farmers with more than enough to irrigate their crops. The Murray and the Darling were both in flood at the same time and the swelling excess water made its way to South Australia. Main river towns suffered enormously with much of the commercial and residential areas submerged for several months. The flood waters hit Mannum in July 1956.

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Six hundred homes in the district were flooded, as well as two hundred holiday shacks. Some were totally destroyed. The ferry was out of operation for over six months and new roads had to be built on higher ground above the flood level. Children were ferried across the river in a boat to get to school and the bus was kept on the Cowirra side of the river. Many of the businesses operating on Randell Street were devastated. The bowling green was underwater, the bakery was temporarily relocated to Adelaide Road and men had to row their boats to the pubs which were serving from bars on the first floor.
Further up river, orchardists lost trees and vines. These had to be replanted and the owners lost several years income. At the height of the 1956 flood an estimated 15000 people visited Mannum in one day just to see the flood. - disasters seem to attract the crowds.

I can remember walking along the street between the sand bag levee and the shop fronts when my parents went for a look too.



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Reply By: Ruffy-Dan - Sunday, Jan 09, 2011 at 07:44

Sunday, Jan 09, 2011 at 07:44
Thanks Doug,
Just mother nature showing off again.... Beyond every piece of her beauty there is some ugliness.. She is truly the Worlds most powerful woman.
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Reply By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Sunday, Jan 09, 2011 at 08:23

Sunday, Jan 09, 2011 at 08:23
Even in the Driest State of the Driest Country eh Doug?
Thanks for the memory mate.

Cheers
Allan

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Reply By: gbc - Sunday, Jan 09, 2011 at 10:14

Sunday, Jan 09, 2011 at 10:14
Give it a few weeks.....
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Reply By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Sunday, Jan 09, 2011 at 10:58

Sunday, Jan 09, 2011 at 10:58
Hi Doug

I am about to put up a blog about the volume of the water coming into South Australia via the Murray River. As you personally know and any visitor to any Town along the Murray in South Australia, the flood levels are recorded and shown to remind people just how divesting the floods were.

We drove the Murraylands section of the Murray last weekend (for people outside of South Australia, the River Murray tourist areas are divided into two separate areas, The Riverland is the section of Murray from the Victoria / South Australia Border through to Morgan and the Murraylands is from Morgan down to the Sea)

The flow rate last weekend was around 55,000 Megalitres per day at Lock 1 at Blanchetown and was expected to peek at 90,000 per day within the next month or so. Now due to higher evaporation rates at Lake Victoria, the revised peek has now been set at 80,000 Megalitres per day. Either way, there is still a lot of water to come down the Murray within the coming weeks.

Keep up your great work.


Cheers

Stephen

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The above photo still does not do justice to the 1956 mother of all floods. The highest shown level on this reminder post was the 1931 flood. To show the level of the '56 flood, a new and taller sign would be needed, as it was over 2.6 metres higher than the '31 levels.

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Reply By: Member - Old Girl (QLD) - Sunday, Jan 09, 2011 at 23:35

Sunday, Jan 09, 2011 at 23:35
A couple of shots I took on the 5/1/2011

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