Ask anyone who’s had a home inundated with flood water, destroyed by a bushfire or shaken by an earthquake and they will tell you how integral a natural disaster or weather event is to a city’s history.
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The floods of 1974 determined guidelines for the first levee bank to be built in Wagga and bushfires of the past have helped determine how farmers protect their property today.
During The Daily Advertiser’s almost 150-year history, we have covered floods, droughts, earthquakes, dust storms, bushfires, snow and hail.
We have dug through our archives to bring you a timeline of most of those events, dating back to the 1870s.
- 1870 – The river rose to a dangerous height on April 27 and it was reported in the Weekender Advertiser at the time that residents heard a roar as water swept through the city.
- 1891 – The city flooded four times this year, once in January, twice in June and again in August.
- 1892 – A bushfire at Pomingalana on December 31.
- 1912 – The region was affected by a drought that plagued the country from 1911-1915.
- 1925 – The Murrumbidgee River overflowed on May 29 into North Wagga and central.
- 1950 – Half the city flooded and thousands were evacuated in the highest flood of the 1950s.
- 1952 – People were forced to leave their homes at the river rose rapidly and spilled over on June 18.
- 1956 – The city flooded on June 28. Council decided to provide levee bank protection to central Wagga after this flood.
- 1974 – The river peaked on August 30 and North Wagga flooded.
- 2004 – An earthquake at Wantabadgery Gap measured 3.3 on the Richter scale.
- 2006 – Homes and property was destroyed during New year’s Day bushfires in Junee.
- 2006 – The bushfire at Pulleytop in February was declared a natural disaster.
- 2010 – The city experienced minor flooding in October.
- 2012 – North Wagga flooded in March and all of central was evacuated.
- 2012 – An earthquake was recorded on April 20 between Tumut and Canberra.
- 2017 – An earthquake between Wagga and Gundagai measured 3.1 on Richter scale.
- 2018 – Most of the region has been declared as ‘drought affected’.
Each week for the next 10 weeks, we will focus on a different aspect of what has shaped this city and region in the past 150 years since we have been telling your stories.
Next week we look at when the region has made national and international headline.
Can you think of any stories or events that fit this description?
Do you have photos of the Riverina’s natural disasters? We would love to see them. Send them to news@dailyadvertiser.com.au.
