45:'s annual rainfall of 1,004 millimetres (40 in) is the second highest in 130 years of record and featured two record wet months in March and August but the first few months of 1947 were relatively dry. However, an east coast cyclone on 24 and 25 May set in motion a sequence of low pressure systems that produced almost continuous rainfall over southern and western Tasmania that extended occasionally to the rest of the island, especially on the third and fourth of June when falls reached 70 millimetres (2.8 in) for two days in Hobart and 60 millimetres (2.4 in) in
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stored enough water to reduce the level of the
Derwent by four feet. However, despite the damage to existing hydroelectric services, the floods did not halt operations to develop the hydroelectric potential of more remote parts of the Central Plateau for the reason noted in the previous paragraph.
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moved rapidly eastwards and intensified, rainfall over
Tasmania, which had been consistent ever since the beginning of the month, intensified to the extent of general falls of over 8 inches (200 mm) on the highlands and 3 inches (80 mm) on the southeast coast during the three-day period
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were severe and most rain gauges in the region recorded record daily rainfalls on the 16th, with the highest being 122.7 millimetres (4.8 in) at
Waratah in the northwest, which recorded a whopping 522.7 millimetres (20.6 in) for the whole month. Washaways, along with destruction of the
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On the north and east coasts, the flooding did not reach the levels seen in 1929, 1936 or 1955, but nonetheless dislocations of hydroelectric power and road transport were widespread on rivers such as the Mersey, Forth and North and South Esk.
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was affected by its largest floods on record. Although flooding at its peak between 16 and 18 June affected almost all rivers and streams across the island, in the rest of the state, the flooding did not approach the extent of the better-known
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On ground that was already saturated, rivers in the south of
Tasmania reached almost unprecedented levels, for instance it is estimated that the Huon reached flows as large as 4,000m/s, larger than the flow of the
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operations were completely washed out and it was notable that without energy for heating in most homes during wet weather with maxima around 10 °C (50 °F) there were no deaths, in part because
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crop was completely lost (replanting was not possible for some time afterwards due to extreme soil erosion in the valley), and it is estimated that over a thousand prime
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Nonetheless, the flooding persisted so severely throughout the south of
Tasmania that no reports reached the outside world as major towns like
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These systems produced only localised flooding, but when a strong frontal system that had produced extremely heavy rain in the far south of
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were completely isolated from the sixteenth to the nineteenth of the month and the populations of towns such as
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Brown, J. A. H. (John
Alexander Henstridge); Australia. Department of Resources and Energy; Brown, J (1983),
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could reach
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In the isolated West Coast region, washaways on the main transportation route, the
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state's hydroelectricity infrastructure, meant that only one of the scheduled
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The year 1946 had been one of the wettest on record throughout
Tasmania:
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174:. Vol. CLXV, no. 23, 876. Tasmania. 18 June 1947. p. 21
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257:"Swollen Streams Leave Power Schemes Almost Undamaged"; in
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were the largest on record and caused considerable damage.
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ending 17 June, a day after the King's
Birthday holiday
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143:Monthly Rainfall for Hobart (Ellerslie Road)
98:were evacuated. Most of southern Tasmania's
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182:– via National Library of Australia.
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273:Daily rainfall: Waratah (Mount Road)
199:Australia's surface water resources
106:drowned in the Huonville district.
16:In June 1947 the southern half of
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201:, Australian Govt. Pub. Service,
350:1950 Australian rainfall records
154:Manjimup daily rainfall for 1947
263:, Wednesday, 18 June 1947; p. 2
25:. Floods on rivers such as the
522:20th-century floods in Oceania
242:"Worst Flooding in 30 Years";
1:
502:June 1947 events in Australia
228:; Thursday 19 June 1947; p. 1
466:2022 south eastern Australia
507:1947 disasters in Australia
56:with record daily falls at
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471:2023 northern Queensland
411:September 2010 Victoria
512:1947 natural disasters
456:2022 eastern Australia
451:2021 eastern Australia
441:2018 Western Australia
436:2013 eastern Australia
330:1900 Western Australia
335:1909 Western Victoria
110:Elsewhere in Tasmania
461:2022 New South Wales
396:2007 New South Wales
248:; 17 June 1947, p. 1
416:2010 Gascoyne River
406:March 2010 Victoria
311:Floods in Australia
166:"TASMANIAN WEATHER"
492:Floods in Tasmania
421:2010–11 Queensland
355:1955 Hunter Valley
497:1940s in Tasmania
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360:1956 Murray River
208:978-0-644-02617-8
54:Western Australia
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176:. Retrieved
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260:The Mercury
225:The Mercury
171:The Mercury
104:beef cattle
67:Sepik River
23:1929 floods
486:Categories
131:References
96:Bushy Park
71:New Guinea
37:Background
389:Post-2000
92:Geeveston
88:Huonville
318:Pre-2000
58:Manjimup
18:Tasmania
245:The Age
47:Swansea
27:Derwent
205:
178:6 June
43:Hobart
121:buses
203:ISBN
195:See
180:2016
90:and
31:Huon
29:and
100:hop
69:in
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233:^
216:^
188:^
168:.
49:.
303:e
296:t
289:v
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