Timeline
Below in a timeline of the six days over which Maitland was ravaged by floodwaters:
- 24 February 1955 - Torrential rain covers the Hunter Valley. Flights are cancelled at Williamtown Airport. First lives are lost as floodwaters submerge Singleton, stranding 600 people at the railway station and convent. People living in low-lying areas of Maitland are warned of imminent evacuation as water rises across the valley and an emergency declared. During the night, Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter goes under water and a mail train crashes into floodwaters at Togar.
- 25 February 1955 - 1100 people stand stranded on the platform at Singleton Railway Station as the Hunter River begins to overflow in the Maitland suburb of Bolwarra. The main crossing over the river, the Belmore Bridge, is closed at 8:30am and evacuation of the city begins. The Mayor of Maitland warns of an approaching "wall of water" at 11am as the first major levee failures occur, first at Oakhampton where homes are instantly ripped from their foundations. Before nightfall, water is 2 m deep on the city's main thoroughfare, High Street. Five men are swept to their deaths across the city, three at the railway station. During the night, floodwaters thunder through the city. 21 homes are washed away on one residential street alone, many occupants still inside or clinging to rooftops. Only female victim of the flood, Elizabeth Dickson is swept to her death in pitch darkness.
- 26 February 1955 - Surfboats rescue hundreds across the city while a helicopter hits power lines in Maitland and electrocutes three who were being taken to safety while they dangled from a rope. The helicopter exploded. Nearby Raymond Terrace is hit hard while flooding extends across the valley. The entire township of Hexham, situated between Maitland and Newcastle on the Hunter River, is completely submerged and every resident evacuated. Floodwaters affect Newcastle and bring disruptions to industry and bring about evacuations in several suburbs, particularly Birmingham Gardens.
- 27 February 1955 - Thousands homeless, refugees taken to Greta migrant camp and homes all over the Hunter Valley as water levels remain at a historic high.
- 28 February 1955 - Water begins to subside, leaving thick layers of stinking silt and debris. Clean-up begins as areas begin to emerge from the floodwaters. Samuel Upton is found drowned in his Maitland home while refugees continue to be moved to Greta by the thousands.
- 29 February 1955 - Joseph Murray drowns; the last victim of the flood.
Read more about this topic: 1955 Hunter Valley Floods