Parts of Canberra flooded; nearby town inundated

Press, 18 October 1976, Page 1

Parts of Canberra flooded; nearby town inundated

NZPA Canberra The worst floods in 100 years have inundated the New South Wales town of Queanbeyan and swamped parts of Australia’s national capital, Canberra, a few kilometres away.

The floodwaters eased late yesterday, leaving behind a minimum estimate of $250,000 damage and up to 6000 people taken from their homes. Queanbeyan has a population of 22,000. The Googong dam, which officials earlier feared might burst, causing a devastating flood, stood firm in spite of two metres of water pouring over its top. National Capital Development engineers, who are building the dam, said they expected it to be able to withstand water flowing over it at a depth of three metres. The state director of the State Emergency Service, (Air Vice-Marshall William Townsend) said at a press conference that the flood situation had eased and

that some of the 300 or so emergency workers, who had been working for up to 48 hours, could now have a rest. The rain had stopped, and S.E.S. spokesmen said the Weather Bureau had given a favourable forecast for the area. The local director of the S.E.S. (Mr Max Morton) said if the dam had burst the floodwaters would have taken 20 minutes to reach Queanbeyan and a 100year frequency flood would have occurred. Engineers at the dam, he said, were worried at some stages yesterday as floodwaters looked to have caused >ome weaknesses in the earth and rock wall, Mr Morton said the flood alert would remain until th? water stopped flowing over the dam wall. Air Vice - Marshal Townsend said there was no real problem with the dam. Its safety features had stood up satisfactorily

and engineers had assured the S.E.S. that the dam could take floodwaters up to three metres higher than the wall for up to 10 hours. The peak yesterday was 1.4 metres, at midafternoon. The flood peak occurred at 3 a.m. on Saturday, when the water reached 21ft Gin, 6in below the record floods of 1974. S.E.S. officials said about 200 houses and 200 flats were affected by the floodwaters. Inspections by residents and journalists showed that little damage had occurred to the houses. The New South Wales Premier (Mr Neville Wran) said yesterday that claims for compensation would be sympathetically received by the Government. The sewerage-works pumps had to be turned off on Saturday and yesterday, causing untreated sewage to enter the Queanbeyan River and Lake Bur-

ley Griffin. Health officials said the floodwaters would have diluted the sewage, and that there was no real concern. The 5000 to 6000 people were taken from Queanbeyan on Saturday. When the flooding eased, officials were allowing people to return. However, rain continued to fall and a "red alert” was issued 90 minutes after about 600 people had been allowed back. Only people living in low-lying areas of Queanbeyan and Canberra are expected to be kept away by the floodwaters today. About 1000 to 1500 people were taken to safety in low-lying areas of Canberra. The man co-ordinating the evacuation of Queanbeyan, Sir Murray Tyrell, collapsed from exhaustion earlier yesterday and was taken to Canberra Hospital. His condition last evening was reported as satisfactory.