In January 1974 Queensland, and to some extent other states, incurred significant flooding, with large areas of the country inundated. In Brisbane a very wet 1973 occurred and the rains had already resulted in some flooding when, on 24 January, cyclone Wanda hit the north of the city. Wanda came with relatively little wind but produced record rains over the Australia Day holiday. Over the long weekend, Brisbane received 580 mm of rain, with much higher falls over river catchments near the city (1,300 mm in five days at Mt Glorious). Approximately 40 houses situated on the banks of the rivers and creeks were washed away as rivers flooded to their highest levels since the 1893 floods.

Fourteen lives were lost in the floods and many people had to be rescued from rising waters.

Record floods were also reported in New South Wales with much of the state affected. In May 1974, record flood levels occurred in the Ovens and Maribyrnong rivers in Victoria. Many settlements in South Australia were also badly affected; Oodnadatta, Marree, Moomba, Iron Knob, Andamooka and Coober Pedy were cut off by floodwaters. In Tasmania, floods in the St Marys area in March - April caused extensive damage.

The Insurance Council of Australia estimated the 1974 damage at $68 million, with the 2011 estimated normalised cost of $2645 million.