Book – Brisbane Breached: The Story of a Drought Defaulted Floodplain

Author: David Topp[1]
Publisher: Connor Court Publishing
Reviewer: Brian Morgan

I read this book whilst looking for reasons to work inside as we have had unrelenting rain since January. As I start this review, we have had 43mm today.

Thus, one readily recognises that our weather appears to be changing, changing for more frequent flooding episodes.

This book is not so much a story but a study of the two most recent severe rain periods that we have endured in the Brisbane area, 2011 and 2022.

I vividly recall experiencing the aftermath of the 1960 floods in Tasmania. As a teenager, I thought it was ironic that my father had to row our dinghy down one of Hobart’s main streets because my brother was marooned at his work. These days, I suspect we are all able to conjure up similar visions from television news, if not firsthand, including people on jet skis, in tinnies and so on,  boating in “streets” of water.

I also visited Katherine in the Northern Territory, not long after their big flood, when the motel we had booked was free of water but not ready for occupation. The owners gleefully pointed out the high water mark for us which was above our heads.

This book is a well constructed analysis of a number of issues relating to the propensity for Brisbane to experience flooding. I will only mention some of these in the interests of brevity.

No such study would be complete without looking at the history of why Brisbane was settled where it was.

Then we would wonder about the consequences of that decision.

Anyone affected by flooding would, by now, have had endless correspondence with their household insurers, builders, Councils, their banks and, possibly, experts in flood mitigation for advice as to steps that could reduce their risk in the future.

The buyback scheme has been of immense benefit to some homeowners but not to others. As well, what of those who rebuilt after 2011 only to suffer similar damage within 10 years?

A curious bystander might wonder at the litigation that occurred over the 2011 floods and might ask the question of whether or not it was worth it, when the successful plaintiffs only received a very small sum compared to what they had claimed, and many claimants did not succeed at all.

That same curious bystander might ask about the future. Are there suburbs in Brisbane that will never be suitable for housing, despite the housing shortage? Where are all the much vaunted new houses going to be built?

The by now very curious bystander would be wondering about the significance of the Somerset and Wivenhoe dams and even wondering whether any new dams should be built and, if so, where.

I raise these dot points, so to speak, because the author eloquently considers them and largely allows readers to form their own conclusions.

His book has some excellent illustrations, mostly by photograph. But could I suggest that, in future editions, he uses a footnote immediately beneath these as sometimes finding their relevance is not easy because the explanation is located a page or more away from the photograph, forcing the reader to read backwards and forwards.

Finally, by way of an unintended segue, the reader’s understanding of this book will be greatly enhanced by the many footnotes, which I found particularly helpful.

Reading this book, one will readily appreciate that, for many of us, these floods mean more than just a talking point. They have been and, possibly, still are a cause of great hardship.

We may all wonder at the future. The effects of Climate Change and what, if anything, we in the South of Queensland can do to minimise the risk of future flooding events.

Professionally, I was involved in a number of flood claims and heard the chilling stories of hardship, suicides, feelings of helplessness, etc, felt by people who felt they had no home and no future. If this study can help to identify solutions, as I think it does, then the author has succeeded in his aims.

[1] David is a Queensland barrister and a contributor of book reviews to Hearsay: see https://www.hearsay.org.au/author/david-topp/.