WHEN WATER COMES

Evening Post, Issue 82, 6 April 1936, Page 4

WHEN WATER COMES

THE QUEENSLAND FLOODS

A MENACE TO LIFE

The mountain, masses—the loftiest in the State of Queensland —which pile parallel with the coast from Ingham to Cooktown, cause phenomenal condensation of the cloud canopies that collect above the province during the latter months of the tropical summer season. January, February, and March provide yards of rain in an average year, writes William Gargett in the "Sydney Morning Herald." Places like Babinda, Dreral, Tully and Innisfail, which are situated nearer to such, eminences as Bartlc Frere, Bellenden Ker, Mt. Tyson, and so on, record their rainfalls by hundreds of inches in the twelve months. Teeming upon hillsides attaining as high as upwards of 5000 feet, with precipitate and rugged ravines, it is clear that the torrents which tear down to the sea are possessed of tremendous and gigantic force.

The vast vapours that furnish the aerial sponge which is squeezed by conflicting and contending wind pressures, thus supplying the streaming showers, are cradled in the steamy areas above the Coral Sea, which collect the accumulation from those portions of the Pacific Ocean that wash the shores of Australia on the west and such islands as New Zealand, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, etc., the waters between those boundaries converging into a funnel-shape, somewhat similar to those other rotary storm producers like the China Sea, the Bay of Bengal, the Caribbean Sea, and so on.

These vapours which are generated over the Coral Sea are wafted towards the coast of Queensland by varying and variable breezes. When they are drifted and compressed above the lofty ranges they deluge themselves [ upon those escarpments, disintegrating the soil and sweeping it down to the valleys and level glebe below, where it fertilises the canefields and other lands under occupation in the province which provides half the sugar produced in- Queensland. ' CENTRIFUGAL ACTION. A real rotary disturbance from the Coral Sea has a centrifugal influence upon the vapour as the storm travels. It forces the moisture to the circumference, and this is why the most copious rains fall at a distance from the centre of the storm itself. The heaviest downpours sometimes occur when the force—the wind—of the dis-

turbance has passed on several days. Seldom do the largest rainfalls and the most energetic blows happen at : the same place at the same time. For < instance, the Willis cyclone, which de- ; vastated Cairns on the night of Febru- ■ ary 7, 1927, was followed by an abnormal deluge upon the city on the : night of February 12, when the centre •• of the storm had moved on a considerable distance. That night, about 14 '. inches of rain fell within a very few hours. Before midnight the flood- : waters in Abbott Street, the main thoroughfare, which is miles away from the nearest river of magnitude, were so deep that the citizens turned out in their bathing suits and swam and dived in the- centre of the city, which is almost as level as the proverbial billiard table. The steady roar of the rain .upon the roofs seemed to increase in intensity as the hours went on, and all traffic was conducted with the utmost difficulty. The volume of the precipitation was so great that it washed away portions of the watermains in the hills, among which the Freshwater Creek reservoir is situated, and cut off the -water supply of the city, which was being subject to record deluge. NO FUN. It is not all fun and frolic when the turgid waters tumble towards the Pacific, to reappear at some later storm series. In addition to the great damage done by the wind—perhaps racing along at the terrific rate of 70 or 80 miles per hour —when structures collapse in disordered sheets or are driven helter skelter to distant places, the floods that follow in the wake of the wind are frequently attended with fatal results. In the vicinity of several of the big streams to the south of Cairns—such as the Johnstone (North and South), the Mulgrave, the Russell, the Tully, the Seymour, the Herbert, and numerous smaller watercourses, the farmers and their families run serious risks as the turbulent floods rise rapidly and surround their homesteads. At intervals quite disastrous incidents involve multiple losses of lives. At other times they residents escape the extreme .sacrifice, in their pioneering efforts to develop, the country and to wrest therefrom a living for their dependants. It is no uncommon experience for a number of settlers to congregate at the home of the persons dwelling at the highest point in a valley, which is humanly speaking dernier ressort—their last chance to survive, unless the police rescue boat arrives in time to convey the marooned party to a place of security at some distance. There are often rather alarming adventures, which the intrepid settlers endure with calm and constant courage, and accounts of which seldom appear in print. Several families, including infanta and other young children, will be imprisoned iii a house, with the rain teeming in torrents all the time, and with the furtive

flood waters creeping up higher and higher, forcing the prisoners to take refuge in the upper story or the attic or loft of the house, dragging their possessions—even their cooking stoves —with them as they climb from the insidious invader. Here they all manage to live for several days until the deluge abates. It is not only the women of the west (George Essex Evans) who perform prodigies o£ valour as they go about their self-im-posed tasks on the land. The women of the north are equally, brave and cheerful; the fortitude of themselves and their families is truly marvellous. EXPOSED TO DANGER. They are exposed to vital dangers each and every year from cyclones and floods; and the January-March quarter of the year inevitably brings with it the prospect of fatal effects in the regions between Igham and Mossman, though, thanks ';o the interposition of Providence and the courage and the resources of the people, the deaths from these causes—cyclones and floods —are comparatively few and far between. But the peril persists throughout the wet season, which is more regular than in almost any other portion of Australasia. /. The people of Sydney can scarcely realise the trials—and sometimes the terrors—of transport in the far north when the cyclone period prevails. Sydney has its violent storms, and at intervals there are destruction and even death reported from the commercial capital city of the Commonwealth; but these visitations are sudden and spontaneous. In the far north the intimation that there is a rotary storm hovering over Willis Islets—about 283 miles east north east from Cairns—simply communicates to all the communities fr6m Cooktown to Mackay, approximately 500 miles of coastline, the fact that such cyclone may strike any of them when the "streak" occurs—which may ;be after a suspense of 48 hours or more. In the meantime, it is beyond human ken which course the blow will adopt. Then the wind may wreck a whole province, strewing buildings and trees, etc., and disorganising train and road traffic along the main avenues. The coastal country for 50 miles or more south from Mackay is very well watered—seemingly too well watered in time of rain by the foot. On. one evening during our sojourn at Mackay the train lost practically an hour i.i negotiating the 23 or 24 miles between the centre and Sarina, where the Shelkol distillery is. Much of the line was completely submerged, and the utmost caution was necessary to avoid being involved in an accident, in case the vast volumes of water had occasioned a washout which would be imperceptible to the human eye. GOING GINGERLY.

Travelling down to Brisbane a few days later it was Jiot surprising that

the crew of the nocturnal train had observed the greatest caution. The entire landscape was punctuated with extensive expanses of rain water, which stretched for miles and miles in every direction, the rivers and creeks being quite incapable of carrying it off as it fell. It was remarkable to notice the effects of the conditions upon the different animals in the paddocks, in many of which the water; was lying from 9 to 18 inches deep. A small flock of sheep—for the butcher's block—looked the very picture oJ! misery. Saturated to the. skin,, they appeared as though they ' had been standing up for days and nights, unable to lie down because of the water. In adjoining fields were Hereford cattle and calves, the latter disporting themselves as though the whole thing were the joke of their lives. The same thing applied to some mares and foals in other localities, The soil and the sub-soil were soaked.to excess, and the grass and other vegetation looked t.a though the ensuing winter would not witness any shortage of fodder.-in the province. Later, the Mackay district had another gale and flood visitation.