Queensland - Brisbane, Ipswich, Maryborough

Black February Flood, 1893

Quick Statistics

35 Fatalities
300 Injured

The Queensland flood of February 1893 is often referred to as the Black February Flood. Tropical cyclone Bundinyong created extreme weather conditions and heavy rain, with Crohamhurst recording 914 mm in a 24 hour period. The water gauge recorded 8.35 m above the low tide level and 889 mm of rain fell in the Brisbane water catchment reserves.

Further flooding destroyed two major bridges. Both the Victoria bridge and the Indooroopilly Railway bridge collapsed.

There were 35 recorded deaths.

Information Sources

Bureau of Meteorology, Flood warning system for the Brisbane River below Wivenhoe Dam to Brisbane City, January 2005, website viewed 11 November 2007
F McBride, Brisbane 150 stories, 2009, pp 78–79
R Coenraads, Natural disasters and how we cope, 2006, p 320