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Toowoomba's flood was most unusual, as the city sits at the top of the Great Dividing Range, at an elevation of 700m.

On Monday 10 January 2011, within a 40 minute period, 150 mm of rain bucketed down on the city. This was on top of rain falling for several days beforehand, making the ground waterlogged. In fact, the ground was already sodden after weeks of heavy rain, the result of a La Nina weather pattern, which brought more rain than usual to Toowoomba in the preceding months. The rainfall recorded in September 2010 made it Australia's wettest month in 110 years.

The ground could not hold any more water, and the water began to accumulate at the quarry at the top of the range. Rocks and soil on the escarpment began to give way, and the water rushed in a torrent down the range, a 7m high inland "tsunami" that hit the valley below.

In addition, there was another torrent that rushed through the city itself, swamping the CBD completely and carrying cars away in its force. There are two main valleys running through Toowoomba, and these were overflowing as stormwater drains and creeks couldn't cope with the sudden torrent of rain. This water overflowed with the torrents from East Creek and West Creek, meeting at Gowrie Creek, creating the flooding in Toowoomba.

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14y ago

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