Peter Beattie - 1974

UQ January 1974

The former Queensland Premier was enrolled in a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1974 when Brisbane suffered the worst city flooding in Australian history. 16 people lost their lives and 300 were injured. 8,000 were made homeless.

Heather and I were seriously dating in 1974 (and married in January 1975.)   I was resident at St John’s College and during the holidays in January 1974 I needed to get back to college to access some of my belongings - as you do.  The only problem was Brisbane had been hit by its worst flooding since 1893.   On the 24^th January, Cyclone Wanda dumped heavy rainfall on an already saturated south east corner.  We undertook the determined walk to St Lucia along the railway line.  When we eventually got near to St Lucia we were greeted with an inland sea.  The University of Queensland had become a floating university.

Photograph from State Library of Queensland collection Image Number: 177196

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