Canberra marks 50 years from the Woden Valley flood which killed seven young people
26.1.2021
How the tragedy unfolded
In late January 1971, Canberra was sweltering through a typically hot summer
In the afternoon, as protestors gathered in Civic to engage in a silent prayer vigil against the Vietnam War, storm clouds began to build over the city.
But few could have imagined the tragedy about to beset the national capital.
That evening, a once-in-a-century storm pummelled the city's southern suburbs, dumping about 100mm of rain in a narrow band of the Woden Valley in just 50 minutes.
The stormwater infrastructure, choked with fallen timber and debris, ultimately failed to cope as the normally sedate Yarralumla Creek turned into a torrent of water 200 metres wide.
Soon cars were being swept away from a huge section of the low-lying arterial road, Yarra Glen, and nearby Yamba Drive.
That storm, and the flash flood it caused, cost the lives of seven young people, who were washed away from three vehicles trapped in the rising waters.
All the victims were aged under 20 — the youngest, a boy, just six years old.
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