Page 13 - eMuse Vol.9 No.02_Classical

Did You Know? Grandma’s

Sayings
Brisbane Floods

Those who

don’t believe

in magic will

never find it
Roald Dahl

Three ships grounded by the first 1893 cyclone. From left to right: S.S. Elamang,
Coal Hulk Mary Evans, and, HQMS Paluma
According to folklore, when the penal grounding of three ships at what was Gar-
settlement of Moreton Bay (now Brisbane’s dens Reach on the Brisbane River. One of
CBD) began construction the indigenous them was part of the pride of Queensland’s
people, the Turrbal clan, asked, “What are Colonial Navy, HQMS Paluma.
you doing?” Bad luck at that time the Paluma was un-
Although they had no concept of what dergoing a refit and when the flood arrived
these strange white people meant in their she had no power to oppose the raging
answer, they asked, “Why are you building flood. Moorings snapped and swung her
it here? The place floods.” around to become a major attraction in the
The newbees in typical ignorance and ar- Botanical Gardens.
rogance replied to the effect, “What would Crewmen and volunteers rapidly applied
ignorant savages know.” The shoe was on spars and moorings to prevent her from
the wrong foot. The “ignorant savages” in rolling on her side when the flood went You Get
this case weren’t the locals. down.
How does one refloat a beached ship
Told You So! (or three). I don’t know because the very Nothin' for
Here was a clear case of “We told you whim of nature that caused the problem
so”. The History of Brisbane since then came back with the third flood and refloat- Nothing
tells us of floods in 1841, 1864, 1887, 1890, ed the lot.
1893, 1897, 1908, 1931, 1974, and, 2011. A quote was put in to do the job but the
All of these floods had significant im- Premier, Sir Samuel Griffith, procrastinated
pacts on the citizens of Brisbane at their over the high price. For once, dithering by
respective times. In 1893, the city was hit political leaders paid off, because with ad-
by three cyclones in a row, 6th February, 11 ditional rainfall, the Brisbane River began
February, and, 19 February. flooding again and assisted in refloating the
The first of these floods 907mm of rain grounded vessels.
in twenty four hours creating a water surge North Pine Or Petrie?
measured at the Port Office gauge (now the
City gauge) as being 8.35 metres (27 feet, 5 North Pine Railway station, where Billy
inches. Two cyclones of this trio produced Mateer sent his famous telegram from, had
the second and third highest ever recorded a name change to Petrie in 1910. It was
flood levels of the Brisbane River. named after Tom Petrie from the pioneer
The highest was the January 1841 flood family.
at 8.43 metres (27 feet, 8 inches). There Not everyone was pleased with the
was however some oral aboriginal history change and some stubbornly clung to call-
suggesting a flood level of nearly 12 m prior ing their district North Pine. Railway staff
to the first European settlement. didn’t know how to deal with the dilemma.
Early explorer journals refer to evidence So the station sign read North Pine on
of debris seen high up in trees which sup- one side and Petrie on the other. The com-
port the oral prehistory claims. promise only added to the confusion.
The Queensland Premier made an
Ships Ashore executive decision. The name of the
One of the quirky events of place was Petrie and that was that
the first 1893 flood was the and still is.
February 2020 eMuse 13