1917 FLOODS

Mrs. Ada Vaux and the North Ongerup Road in flood 17th July 1917.
 

1923 FLOODS

1926 FLOODS

GNOWANGERUP FLOODS possibly 1926…
The area flooded was the creek adjacent to Denny Street.
These images were kindly shared by Sadie Stewart nee Cockram. The boys in the photo are the sons of Sam and Dorothy Stewart, who resided in Denny Gordon, Norman and Athol. I have listed them in age order.

(Sadie married Athol Stewart)
"Great Southern Herald, Saturday 7 August 1926:
During the heavy rains which fell at the end of last month, there was quite an epidemic of water-logged cars.
Cars parked themselves in creeks and resisted every effort made to pull them out.
Mr. Montgomery's Overland was towed "in by horse, after having spent a day and a night with water well over the radIator; the same thing happened to Mr. Barnard's car also and to Mr. Walter Stutley's truck.
Others merely refused to come through the heavy mud which is the result of the Road Board efforts at reforming the
roads."

 

1940 FLOOD
The Western Mail:
Thursday 14th November 1940
GNOWANGERUP, Nov. 6.-
After probably the worst drought in its history, Gnowangerup was flooded late yesterday, when a thunderstorm broke over the district, bringing torrential rain and heavy hail.
Two hundred and forty points of rain were recorded in Gnowangerup, but it is believed that the fall was much heavier, as the severity of the storm probably caused inaccuracy in the rain gauge.
Owing to the light winter rains most farm dams held only a few feet of water at the end of the winter, but a few hours of heavy rain last evening changed the outlook entirely, and the dams are now overflowing.
Starting about four o'clock, the fall gained in intensity, and by six o'clock all the watercourses surrounding the town were In flood and the floors of some business premises were awash. The stream running through the town common reached a record high-water mark and the large eastern bridge was soon covered nearly up to the rails.
A lone motorist who was marooned on the bridge with the rising waters was rescued by means of a line thrown to him, and he ran through the troubled waters to safety.
The tennis courts and pavilion were washed away, and only a few posts were left.
The main storm seemed to be confined to a strip about 15 miles wide running from the north of this centre to 20 miles south-east. There were very severe hail storms in parts, and on the banks ofsome dams masses of ice were formed by large hailstones.
Other rainfall registrations in the district were as follows:
Eugenup, 350 points;
Borden, 79;
Borden South, 25;
Ongerup, 48;
Jerramungup,40;
Pallinup, 31;
Rockview, 52.

Railway Washaway.

Floodwaters at Gnowangerup washed away about seven chains of railway line, destroyed a railway culvert and submerged McDonald's bridge.
Officers of the Railway Department said on Nov 6 that the department would be unable to take passengers, livestock or perishable goods beyond Gnowangerup until repairs were effected to the line. lt was reported that about a mile of railway line was under water.
 

   FLOODED CREEK ON YOUGENP ROAD           #9

1955 FLOODS

GNOWANGERUP FLOOD of 1955
Drama near the “Borden”/Quinn’s Bridge.
Thank you to Gladys Potter (nee Marshall) for this remarkable story….

Gladys Potter:
"I remember that 1955 flood very clearly .I nearly got drowned in the local creek.
The Borden Gnp bridge was damaged .
I saw a few men cross each side of the bridge with ropes, a cow was being washed down in the flooded creek and they held the ropes across the creek and snagged her and saved her life . Mrs Searle kept her house cows on the common = a paddock beside the creek .she supplied milk locally , I kept my pony Billy on that land , so did 2 or the older girls who had horses ,when the rain stopped we went to retrieve our pony and horses as the fences has washed away . They were on the opposite side of the creek so had to be swum across, the girl decided .
At Gunther’s cement bridge crossing was the best place.it was impossible to see below the water as it was an orange torrent .the girls walked in front of me and crossed safely I crossed on the lower side of that bridge .Billy and I got half way across .water was up to my shoulders and I fortunately was on his left side near his shoulder ,suddenly he was swimming with his legs thrashing beside mine which were being pushed under him with the water pressure and I was pushed tight to his left side . He was thrust sideways with his rear going downstream ,when his feet caught the broken off cement edge of the bridge and he dragged himself and me to dry ground.
The girls horses had been on the undamaged side of the bridge . It had been half washed out in the middle ,and they and their horses were much bigger than me and mine .
We could see after the water went down what fools we had been .
Those girls, if I remember rightly were June Aylmore and Coral Eastwood .?”

Glen Oliver “The bridge was officially named Quinns Bridge in 2016”.
 

GNOWANGERUP FLOODS 1955
Margaret Johnson:
"I remember the floods in February 1955 as it was the day my sister was married. Our Dad took Mum in a truck and my sister and I along with our partners travelled in George's Standard car. Going through the creek near the Treasure farm on the Broomehill Road the water was lapping in under the door but we made it through to Katanning and back. The floods also rose in the creek near the swimming pool unfortunately I have no photos of that.” 

COURAGE & DRAMA IN ONGERUP
The Flood of 1955
"The Worries of Expectant Mothers’
The rain had begun falling on Monday 14 February 1955 and by Wednesday evening 150 mm had been recorded at Ongerup.
"Creeks were running a banker, lakes in the north of the area I had filled and overflowed and roads and railways were cut in many places”.
Despite the inclement weather Digger Weir was determined to get his wife Margaret to the Gnowangerup hospital for the birth of their second child. On Wednesday night, with heavy rain still falling, they set out in their truck. All hazards were surmounted until they reached the vicinity of ‘Yarrawee’ the property of W. F. Gaze, but a creek too deep for the truck to negotiate barred the way. Mrs. Weir, heavy with child, cold and wet, and her anxious husband waded through the water above their waists towards the house, only to find it locked and deserted.
Unabashed Digger Weir broke in, lit a fire and made his wife comfortable before beginning frantically to turn the telephone handle. Luckily Mrs. A. Johnston on the nearby farm heard the faint tinklings of the party line. As soon as it was daylight she arrived at the house and later that morning baby Jennifer was born. It was not an until Friday that Dr. Don McCormack of Gnowangerup was able to reach the farm by tractor and arrangements could be made to transfer the mother and infant to hospital by various vehicles.
By Thursday morning Ongerup had recorded another 75 mm of rain and Len Faulkner was concerned for his expectant wife Eunice. It was decided that they would leave by truck, accompanied by their friend, Don Vaux, on a tractor, for ‘Cassencarry’ the house of the pioneer Walkers, which was situated on high ground 9 km to the south. Walkers’ share farmers, Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Sebbes, were living there.
The water continued to rise steadily minute by minute and soon the truck was unable to move of its own accord, so the men removed the tractor’s fan belt and used it to tow the truck to the Sebbes’ home. By the following day it was impossible for the tractor to manage the deepest sections of the flooded countryside.
On Friday night Mrs. Faulkner‘s baby decided it was time to arrive… Mr. Sebbeses’ boat was loaded on the truck and taken to Ongerup to pick up Mrs. Alwyn Edwards, who had some nursing training.
Mr. Roddy McGlade, a big muscular part Aboriginal, who was very strong and had lumped many bags of wheat on his own, from ground to truck, swam across the wide turbulent Warperup creek from the Ongerup side with a length of string attached to a rope, then the rope was pulled across and fastened to a tree on each side and Mr. Sebbes went in the boat holding onto the rope and returned in the same way with Mrs. Edwards. Later at 2 A.M. on the 19th Steven was born.
At 5 AM., through the fearless efforts of dam sinker Ben Mouritz, C. Sebbes and D. Vaux, Dr. Don McCormick arrived by truck after a hair-raising journey, having at one time to walk through water up to his armpits. Later that morning Mrs. Rose Sebbes prepared breakfast for 16 people in the spacious kitchen of the home brought from Coolgardie by its builder – owner, Robert Walker, 45 years before.
Afterwords the doctor was driven back to Gnowangerup but the daylight trip, when the men could see the dangerous state of the track that they had so trustfully traveled in the dark, took over an hour longer. It was not until the following Tuesday that the ambulance was able to manage the journey in order to deliver the nursing mother and her child to the hospital”.
From “Fruit of the Country- A History of Gnowangerup Western Australia” by Merle Bignell published 1977 by the Shire of Gnowangerup.
GNOWANGERUP FLOODS 1955
Justin Miniter: 1 in 100 year flood that year I have been told by

1982 FLOODS
GNOWANGERUP & TAMBELLUP FLOODING
22nd January 1982 From the Gnowangerup Star
Is the date right?
"Last week the town site of Gnowangerup experienced a replay of the 1955 floods. This time the local post office recorded 182.2 mm of rain.
Rain commenced to fall steadily on Wednesday afternoon and by 10am Thursday the town was cut in two when the town dam overflowed and sent a stream of water to join the already overtaxed culverts.
The crossing between Sadlers Butchers, and W.E. Parnell’s could be negotiated only by tractors and high wheelbase vehicles.
By mid afternoon, the town site was isolated by road and rail. Three houses in Yougenup Road were threatened by the steady buildup of water running of the school oval and showgrounds.
The home of Mr. And Mrs. Jeff Briscoe had to be evacuated when the crossing could not cope with the volume of water and townspeople were quick to volunteer help as the water reached floor level.
The road to Tambellup was cut at Willemenup crossing.
The railway bridge was impassible, stranding a train and his crew.
Further along at Cwmavon a car was washed off the bridge. However, no one was injured in either incident.
Farmers rushed through waterlogged paddocks to drive sheep to higher ground or rescue those isolated on islands.
Late Thursday evening the new dam built to service the reticulation for the sporting complex burst its bank, probably due to bad siting of the spillway.
Shire workmen commenced the cleanup on Friday refilling washouts and moving trees that had fallen over roads on the outskirts of town.

TAMBELLUP WAS WORSE HIT

The township of Tambellup was not as fortunate as Gnowangerup, when the Gordon River overflowed and was joined by a creek east of the town, the whole town area was flooded to a depth varying from floor level to a metre and a half.
Livestock losses are expected to run into hundreds of thousands of dollars as a direct result of the floods.
 

2016 FLOODS
20th JANUARY 2016 FLOODS
The widespread damages caused by the torrential downpours on Wednesday 20th January have been declared a Natural Disaster, with some funding becoming available for those affected. In Gnowangerup numerous roads were completely flooded, with water right up to the door step of both Sadlers Butchers and Ratten & Slater on Yougenup Road.
Meanwhile, Mallee Springs at the Gnowangerup Health Service was subjected to 3 inches of flooding. The SES were called to the scene and worked to sandbag the area to divert water flow, while residents were evacuated to other parts of the Health Service Building for safety.
Local businesses were forced to close due to the mass downpours and heavy flooding throughout the town and some incurred damages. Local farmer, Elliot Richardson also became an unexpected hero when an SRT truck was swept off the road while trying to cross a flooded Pallinup River crossing on Formby South Road.
Extensive road damages and road closures were incurred following the downpours. In severely damaged areas bitumen was upheaved from road surfaces. The Shire of Gnowangerup will be holding a 'flood and where to from here' power point presentation following the Annual Electors Meeting on Wednesday the 10th February form 7pm for those interested in obtaining more information.
It is difficult to recall an event of similar proportion in the past and the event has been likened to the infamous flood of 1982.
As a follow on effect, the Pallinup and Bremer Bay Rivers have since reopened to the ocean after the torrential rainfall throughout their catchment areas.

Photos and article from the February 2016 'Gnowangerup Roundup'
 

GNOWANGERUP FLOODING
20th January 2016
Truck driver rescued
"Floods have swept through the Great Southern town of Gnowangerup, 395 kilometres south east of Perth, after heavy rainfall in the region. The rains caused a creek that runs close to the town to overflow. The manager of the Gnowangerup SES unit, Les Nayda, said one of the first call-outs they had was to the town's hospital. "They had flooding in the old people's section of the hospital, it had about three inches of water running through the hallway, so we sandbagged that and diverted the water," he said.
"The butcher shop on the main street is right by the creek that runs through town. That was severely affected, and as of about a few moments ago there was about 12 to 14 inches of water flowing outside their front door. That should go down when the rain stops."
Gnowangerup deputy shire chief executive Vin Fordham Lamont said the streets had been covered with water for most of the afternoon. A car travels down a flood-hit street in Gnowangerup.The main streets of Gnowangerup are under water after flooding.
"We've had some very heavy rain during the course of the morning," he said. "We've got some drains and creeks that run through the town and normally this time of year there's nothing really in them and they've sort of been like little, mini, white-water rivers.I haven't seen anything like this since 1982, about the same time of the year."
Mr Nayda said people should stay indoors.
"There's a lot of local people driving around, trying to have a look, I'd encourage them to stay home," he said.

Farmer Elliot Richardson said he rescued a truck driver whose road train had been washed off a road about 10 kilometres south of Gnowangerup. The driver was stranded on top of the vehicle as waters rose.
"There was a few cars on either side of the road and there was the driver standing on top of his truck...he had about a foot or six inches of dry land to stand on top of the truck," he said.
Mr Richardson sourced an anchor rope and waded out to get the driver back on land.
"I got the anchor rope and a big float and we ended up getting the float to him and got him back in," he said.
"He was fine, a bit cold and saturated and a little bit shaken I suppose."
Gracie Eades: …The big storm that ripped the wheat storage area
Allan Faulkner: 1 of Alan Peices trucks
Jason Baxter: Was there when happened. Told him not to go.
*Fortunately the truck was insured..
ABC News Item (Supplied: Gnowangerup CRC)
 

   TRUCK WASHED AWAY            #31

2017 FLOODS
FLOOD DAMAGE - GNOWANGERUP 2017 10th February
It's still raining in Gnowangerup this morning after 160mm yesterday.
The town is no longer cut off, with the Gnowangerup-Katanning and Gnowangerup-Tambellup roads open to traffic.
The Gnowangerup-Borden road remains closed and we can see why... Victor Wellstead sent this picture through of the Jackitup Crossing. (See Below)
"The water’s just cut straight through and the tree you see is a huge tree and that’s actually washed down the creek,
so it’s a lot of water. It's unbelievable." he said.
Gnowangerup SES volunteer unit manager Les Nayda said they had received a call for assistance in the early hours of this morning.
"Someone got washed up the creek near the Borden area, but unfortunately we couldn’t get more than 7km out of town at that stage," he said.
"But I believe that Mount Barker fire and rescue and a local farmer got them out of the creek."
He said sandbagging around the butchers, Gnowangerup High School and the hospital had been effective, but urged the public to remain vigilant around waterways.
"We had a number of children last night playing in flooded rains etc – can I just ask that parents keep an eye on their children, keep them away from flooded drains, creeks etc because they are a problem when they’re flowing fast."

FLOODS IN GNOWANGERUP 2017
One of the places hard hit by the rain is Gnowangerup, where 160mm have fallen since early this morning according to Manager of Works for the shire Yvette Wheatcroft.
"All the major roads coming in, all the dirt roads are flooded, the main street was completely flooded over same as we had last year in January," she said.
"The Gnowangerup creek itself, there’s a bridge as you head out of town to Borden and that was lapping right up at the top of the bridge. We thought it might go over but it seems to have slowed down a bit at the moment."
"Quite a lot of houses along the Gnowangerup creek we’ve had to sandbag, the SES have been extremely busy since about six o'clock this morning."

FLOOD DAMAGE - GNOWANGERUP

2021 FLOODS

ROAD WASHED AWAY IN GNOWANGERUP

The Shire of Gnownagerup has revealed Old Ongerup Road past Coromup Road has had a section of road washed away as of 10:50am this morning. This section of road is now open to local traffic only.
Main Roads WA has urged drivers to take extreme caution when travelling on a number of key roads throughout the Great Southern region that have been impacted by flooding and fallen trees.
"Main Roads recommends when driving in wet weather please remember to turn on your headlights, increase your following distance, and look out for hazards such as large puddles and fallen trees," a Main Roads WA spokesman said.
Flooding at Formby Rd South in Gnowangerup is blocked in both directions. Drivers are advised to seek an alternative route.
There is flooding over the floodway on Pingrup Lake Grace Rd in both directions and on Gnowangerup Jerramungup Rd in both directions.
Borden Bremer Bay Road in Gnonwangerup has sustained more damage so drivers have been advised to drive with extreme caution at all flood crossings and anywhere the water has crossed the road.
Shire of Gnowangerup
 

2022 FLOODS
PALLINUP RIVER FLOODING LEAVES ROAD "IMPASSABLE"
Formby Road South is impassable at Pallinup River due to flooding, according to Main Roads.
The river is about 10km south of Gnowangerup-Jerramungup Road.
Main Roads says the river rose overnight across the road.
Picture: Lyndall Hanbury