The 1956 Murray River flood involved the rising of waters in the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

and

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

of many towns in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. The flood was and still is considered the biggest flood in the

recorded history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world hist ...

of the Murray and described as "the greatest catastrophe in South Australia's history", although few lives were lost. The flood occurred due to higher than average rainfalls in

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and heavy rains in the proceeding three months in the Murray-Darling basin. Flood waters moved down the Murray and Darling rivers for seven months and peaked between 11 and 14 August at

Merbein Merbein is a town just north of Mildura, Victoria, in the Sunraysia region of Australia. It is on the Calder Highway between Mildura and the Murray River crossing at the Abbotsford Bridge to Curlwaa. At the , the town had a population of 1,9 ...

in Victoria and at Morgan in South Australia. Inflow into South Australia peaked at 341 gigalitres per day, the highest on record; the next highest on record is 220 gigalitres per day in 1931. From upstream to downstream, flooding occurred in the towns of

Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...

in New South Wales; Colignan, Iraak,

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area had ...

Nangiloc Nangiloc is a small rural community in North Western Victoria on the south (left) bank of the Murray River, about 50 km south east of Mildura. Primarily an agricultural settlement, at the 2021 census, Nangiloc and the surrounding area had ...

, and Red Cliffs in Victoria; and many South Australia towns including Renmark,

Mannum Mannum is a historic town on the west bank of the Murray River in South Australia, east of Adelaide. At the 2016 census, the urban area of Mannum had a population of 2,398. Mannum is the seat of the Mid Murray Council, and is situated in the ...

and Murray Bridge. Some areas were flooded up to from the natural flow of the river. As a result of the flood, the

Menindee Lakes The Menindee Lakes is a system of 9 large, but relatively shallow lakes, located in south-west New South Wales on the Darling (Barka) River, about 200 km upstream of the Darling River's junction with the River Murray. The Darling River is ...

were constructed to store high flows from the Darling River.

Impact

Mildura, Victoria

In 2006, historic flood markers were erected at Apex Park and the lawns of the Mildura Rowing Club at Mildura, indicating the height the river reached in 1956. Additional markers were to be erected at various locations along the river from Wentworth to Colignan.

Wentworth, New South Wales

The town of Wentworth, located on the junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers, erected a statue in 1959 in honour of the Fergie TE20 tractor, responsible for helping to erect a levee around the town which kept floodwaters at bay for months. A tractor rally is also held every five years to celebrate the Fergie.

Mannum, South Australia

Hotels in the main street of Mannum operated their bars from the second floor with boats tying up to the balcony. The flood water broke the

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...

bank on 24 August, and had not fully receded until Christmas. Several towns in South Australia have depth markers showing how high the floodwaters rose.

In popular culture

Author

Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''The ...

used his childhood memories of being taken to see the flood as a basis for his 2017 fantasy novel ''

La Belle Sauvage ''La Belle Sauvage'' is a fantasy novel by Philip Pullman published in 2017. It is the first volume of a planned trilogy titled ''The Book of Dust'' and is set twelve years before Pullman's ''His Dark Materials''. It presents events prior to the ...

''.

References

External links

1956 River Murray Flood
at State Library of South Australia *
1956 Flood
at Culture Victoria {{DEFAULTSORT:1956 Murray River Flood Flood 1956 Murray River Flood Murray River flood Murray River flood Murray River Flood Flood, 1956 Flood, 1956 Murray River Flood Murray River Flood Murray River Flood Murray River Flood 1956 disasters in Australia