Miranda Downs Flood 1956 This is a copy of a letter sent to members of the Angliss family, shareholders in the property:- Miranda Downs 1 May 1956 Dear Nice and May Thanks so much for your kind letter. Please excuse my typing this letter but there seems much to tell you, and I can write more or at least tell you more by using the typewriter. First of all about the flood - compared with what others lost and the personal sorrow, I suppose we can count ours as a mere “pin prick” but then again that same “pin prick” was a costly one and very severe. We had received timely warning from the Police, Aerial Ambulance and other stations above here, and with accurate reports given by bush folk we knew that a record flood could be expected. With the memory of the tragedy at Huonfels and the loss at Abingdon Downs, Phil made sure that all the womenfolk on the places under his control at that time, would be evacuated in time, and he made all other preparations necessary and possible in the time available. Women from Macaroni, Vanrook and Glencoe were sent to Normanton. From here only Doris and her four children were evacuated. I did not want to go. My family were all fine swimmers and at an early age we had been taught to swim and understand flood waters. I am not meaning that I am a fine swimmer but I felt that I should stay, and when I did, the other Aboriginal women here wanted to remain. We knew they would comply with any instructions necessary so they stayed. Communications with Cairns were disrupted by the cyclone and so, at one stage, their only communication with the North was through Miranda and Robinhood radio (two-way) sets. Our set is old and not the best but Phil gave it a lot of attention, and it served the purpose well. The Police at Normanton sent messages and telegrams to us over the Normanton Hospital radio, and we then sent them to Robinhood and from there they were relayed to Cairns. Of course, with poor reception, it is necessary to make certain there are no errors (many words sound alike on the radio) so there was a lot of checking and rechecking to do with the three sets. We realised it was imperative to have the reports correct and not exaggerated at such a time. Phil had a premonition that all was not well at Huonfels. He knows that country like the back of his hand and was very perturbed as he knows the folk there very well. He sent a message to Cairns that he felt a survey plane should be set to see how they were faring. An interruption came from another station who considered there would be no personal danger as there was a high ridge at the back of the homestead where they could go if the floodwaters ran through the buildings. Phil still worried and said he knew about the ridge but if the wind was blowing a gale as it was here at the time, they would have no shelter and the women would be exposed to rain and cold etc. Bob Norman, whose name is a household one in the Gulf, volunteered to leave at five in the afternoon to investigate but the weather had grounded him at a station so Phil thought it would be wiser for him to stay there until the morning when the flying conditions would be more favourable. When Bob left, the damage had already been done. It was even too late when Phil had first suggested it but it was strange he had that premonition. Three folk were still in the house when it was swept off its foundations. The lady was swept off the house top and drowned. One man was also swept away and his body found sixty yards from hers. Another man managed to escape. Six girls were left to mourn the loss of their splendid mother and uncle. At Abingdon some of the buildings were swept away, and stores were lost, as was their stud herd. Here we had shifted furniture and furnishings etc to the top floor. Batteries were placed on the roof with a lead attached to a light on the gateway. Domestic pets and poultry were put on high verandah. Food was cooked and with stores, mortein, medicines, torches and raincoats were placed on two rafts which the men had made in case they were needed. Dry firewood was stacked on the tractor and it, with all the other vehicles, was jacked up on the highest place possible. Whatever stock was nearby had been shifted to what Phil considered to be the safest and so all that could be done was done well in advance. It is not being boastful but I do feel that only for Phil’s foresight and precautions, the losses would have been far greater. He did a plane flight on Friday and saw the floodwaters about two miles above here coming, without exaggeration, like a tidal wave. They hurried back and the pilot flew off to Normanton. The creek was low here at the time but we did not know how high the water wold rise as when Phil saw it , he estimated the width of the waters to be no less than 35 miles. He realised that in this flat country, it would spread for miles and not be so high but as this was a phenomenal flood in the Gulf, there was no use in speculating. We made our last minute preparations. Everyone was told where and what they had to do and everyone did as instructed. There was no panic and no grumbling. The rise and rapidity of the water absolutely amazed us. The water began to rise at 6.30 pm. At 8 pm it was circling all buildings. At 8.30 pm it was eighteen inches through the house. By the time we were told to get on the rafts in case the sandy nature of the ground and the strong current in some places swept the blocks away. That precaution proved unnecessary but still it was wiser to be able to laugh about it afterwards than to have any accidents or losses. I stayed on the telephone to warn Glencoe of the rapidity but when the water reached the height at which I had been told to leave, I did. The water was waist deep on me in the yard but when carrying Maxie (fox terrier) and going through the gate, a hole had been washed out and I went up to my neck in icy water. I am sure people would have suffered with cramp if exposed to the flood water for a long period. I had dry clothes and dressed in shirt and jodhpurs in case we had to sit out all night. I changed in the office and they pushed the raft to the office steps so I would not get wet again. The cook made coffee and sandwiches and we suffered no discomfort. Certainly the mosquitoes were troublesome but we had mortein and were not worried for long. At midnight, the flood had reached its peak – six inches through the stores and lapping the floorboards of all outbuildings. At 4am it began to drop and at six had dropped two inches. The water did not leave the dining room until Sunday night. We could have left the raft after nine but three of us declined. We wanted to miss seeing nothing so we sat up all night – quite comfortable but interested in everything and talking. Maxie was on the raft too and he had a wonderful time watching rats, lizards and snakes swimming and being washed by. I did not know snakes could swim so well. It was really pathetic to hear the trapped cattle bellowing (they began when the water was coming – evidently their sixth sense warned them and they could smell the floodwaters. Dingoes were howling in real distress and we could her the plaintive cry of brolgas. As you perhaps know, they do not roost in trees but squat or stand on the ground. I think they must have been neck deep on the sand ridges. At dawn, it was really a pretty sight, if you could forget the devastation it caused, there was just a sheet of water and no land visible. Phil was of the opinion that there would be dry land on the high banks of the Smithburn and this later proved to so proving conclusively that high ground on the immediate banks is safer than lower ground distant from it, but that was three miles away, it could not be seen. It was like a winters morning and the sun gave a glistening effect to the sheets of water. Then there was breakfast and the cleaning up to commence. I have never used so much boiling water and disinfectant in my life on the Monday after the waters subsided. The men assisted and then, as soon as they could, tackled the miles of washed down fencing. It was certainly an unenviable job. Apart from the slime and mud there was the stench of dead cattle, kangaroos, brolgas, rats and reptiles. They did work well and not one grumbled. Most stockmen feel the loss of animals and we all wondered how much stock was lost. Not a single thing was lost here about the homestead but along Walkers Creek, the losses would be heavy. Our salvation here lay in the fact that four miles on the northern side of the Gilbert above here, and six miles on the southern side, two deep creeks, Maxwells and Walkers, carried a huge volume of water from their junctions with the Gilbert. Had we receive the full volume, it would have been far more serious. Phil cannot yet give an accurate estimate of the stock losses and will have to be careful as he knows it will have to be as accurate as possible for Head Office to submit for Income Tax purposes. The brandings will give some idea. He was worried because he has been unable to get the camp away as early as other years. Flooded rivers and creeks had prevented this before the flood but now we think this was a good thing. At least the brandings now will be true records for the future whereas an earlier branding would not be so. So many calves would have been lost it would have been totally inaccurate. We should know when the camp returns from the Gilbert and he is hoping they will be fewer than he at first estimated. As the floods came, and we could do nothing to prevent its coming, I am glad that I was able to see it. It was an experience I shall never forget but I never want to see another such one. There were funny moments. When it was obvious to all that the water was stationary, one Aboriginal man braved the cold waters and went to “kill water”. They beat the water with both hands and it gives out a peculiar booming sound. His mates firmly believe that he “killed” it and so drove it back. Another was sure, when the water was rising, that he could arrest it if only he had a certain fire stick to put in the flow and so burn it away. I suppose it is a sort of prayer or belief with them so we pretended to believe it. Extract of a letter received to the Angliss Family from Alice Schaffert, Miranda Downs, Normanton. Qld
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 21:56:33 +0000
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