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(Photo album here)Wagga is built on the alluvial floodplain of the Murrumbidgee River so, not surprisingly, it has had to deal with flooding many times.
The first flood known to white people occurred in October 1844. This photograph was taken in the early 1870’s1870s of Fitzmaurice Street.
Most newspaper reports that deal with a flood, call it the worst flood yet and there are many factors other than the height of the river, such as damage and loss of property that contribute to the level of disaster.
We can see in the chart located in the Floods album in the photo gallery of this wiki, the levels the river has reached at each significant flood from 1844 to 1991.
Despite the experience of the flood of 1844, by 1848 the courthouse, lock-up, police buildings, hotel, store and houses had all been built on the low-lying area of the south bank and the north bank also had a store and hotel.
The flood of 1852, which reached 35 feet (10.67m) came suddenly and caused much devastation. The Wagga Wagga correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald reported that, "On Saturday at noon, we were a busy, active, prosperous village; our dwellings abundant in comfort, our gardens smiling and luxuriant. At midnight we were houseless and full of misery; our homes scattered in the waste of waters of the mighty flood."
Thomas Fox owned the hotel on the corner of Fitzmaurice and Kincaid Streets and he had some out buildings on a sand hill where he managed to take some food and blankets. Most of Wagga’s residents ended up camping there until the waters subsided. In North Wagga people were driven into trees and onto rooftops where they remained for four days. After the flood they had very little food.
When it happened again the following year, causing the courthouse to be untenable for over a month, a new courthouse and police buildings were built 150m to the south.
The next major flood happened in 1870, by which time the population had grown significantly. The paper reported that, "Even the oldest inhabitant, who may generally be relied upon to recall something considerably worse than the most calamitous of present day visitations, cheerfully admitted that this was the "worst ever.”"
By April 27, the river was at dangerous levels and the townspeople held a meeting where they decided to have an embankment built to confine the water to the lower end of town. Charles Hardy and Thomas Hodson agreed to erect the embankment but it became too expensive and the shopkeepers refused to contribute, therefore, it was every man for himself!
Most publicans and storekeepers made efforts to prepare when at midnight, according to the 'Wagga Wagga Advertiser', "Suddenly there was a roar, a rush and in a minute the whole town was several feet under water. Nothing more startlingly sudden could be imagined. People who had been high and dry, ridiculing the idea of a flood unable to rise more than six inches in as many hours, found themselves the next up to their waists in seething, surging water.”
The 1880s saw only one major flood, in 1887. There is a photo taken at this time in the Floods album in the photo gallery.
By 1891, Wagga was a thriving town, growing southwards from the lagoon with the railway station having been built 1.5km away on a cheap and flood-free site at the end of Baylis Street.
There were four serious floods in 1891. In January 1891, at the Company Bridge (this is the bridge that was replaced by the Hampden Bridge), the river was almost a kilometre wide. The carcasses of animal drowned on the Gundagai flats were seen floating past.
There were more floods in 1892, 1894, 1900, 1905, 1906, 1916, 1917 and 1922.
There is a photo in the Floods album of the photo gallery taken in 1925 by which time Wagga’s population had grown to over 8000.
While a number of homes were established on higher ground south of the railway line, the commercial hub remained in the Fitzmaurice/Gurwood Street area. There was a canvas and hut suburb in the bend of the river below the Hampden Bridge which, of course, was flooded. One woman had to be removed by force, just minutes before her tin house was washed away.
North Wagga, as usual, suffered the most. Residents took refuge at the police station and the school. After the flood there were cries for a flood protection scheme. But that was not to come yet.
In the Floods album in the photo gallery is a photo of Bolton Park in 1925, under water.
1931 saw the next serious flood and there were more in 34 and 39 and not again until 1950. The Burrinjuck Dam was completed in 1927 and many people thought this meant that there was no longer any serious threat of flood.
The 1950 flood, however, was comparable to the 1925 flood in its devastation. With 36 hours warning, 1200 residents were evacuated from North Wagga before the road closed. The steady stream of cars and trucks piled with belongings and animals was "reminiscent of the great trek of people in Europe caused by the war" according to the manager of the Dunlop factory.
The army ducks were used top rescue people from rooftops. This photo was taken at the corner of Fitzmaurice and Kincaid Streets and shows, as well as a woman making the best of it in her swimmers, an army duck possibly out to rescue stranded people but maybe just on a sightseeing tour.
There were another sixteen major floods in the 50s and after the 1956 flood the Council decided to provide levee bank protection for the city area on the south flood plain.
Despite a petition signed by over 1000 residents, North Wagga and the eastern industrial areas were excluded from the protection. North Wagga was excluded from the town plan of 1965 in an attempt to force residents to move to higher ground. Severe restrictions were placed on development and the suburb remained un-sewered but North Wagga was not about to ‘wither on the vine’.
From 1956 to 1976 the number of residences was only reduced from 241 to 208 and the North Wagga Residents’ Association demanded levee protection, sewerage and the removal of development restrictions. The sign saying ‘We shall not be moved’ appeared beneath the Welcome to North Wagga sigh and remained a public statement reflecting the solidarity amongst residents.
The main levee was commenced in 1960 and completed in 1962 and gave protection of 1 in 100 years’ flood. Since the levee, the flood that caused extensive damage to areas around Wagga occurred in 1974. This photo shows volunteers helping to maintain the levee bank at Kincaid Street.
This photo of the Hampden Bridge shows just how great a volume of water is involved.
Almost all of the houses in North Wagga had between 5 and 8 feet (1.5-2.5m) of water pouring through them. Some residents remained to prevent looting. The levee bank system, though threatened, had protected the city’s business section. The residents of North Wagga returned to their homes and only days later were evacuated again and temporary levee banks were erected around North Wagga.
Another two floods followed and in the following four years the levee was augmented and by the late 1980s North Wagga had one in twenty years’ flood protection.
This page was compliled with the help of Sherry Morris' book, Wagga Wagga Floods.
