50th Anniversary of the 1955 Maitland FloodPrint Page 
The plaque commemorates the victims of the 1955 flood disaster.
In February 1955, Maitland and the Hunter Valley experienced its most severe flood. The 1955 Maitland Flood was the first Australian natural disaster to be broadcast by the media on an international scale and is considered Australia’s worst flood. The waters reached 12.5 metres and caused damage of catastrophic proportions.
The volume of flood water was enough to fill 1.5 million Olympic Swimming pools and the cost of damage, in today’s currency, would have been over $2 billion. 7000 buildings and homes were damaged and the flood claimed the lives of 14 people. The 1955 flood was also the first Australian natural disaster to be transmitted world wide via modern media technologies.
Location
| Address: | Church Street, Maitland Railway Station, Maitland, 2320 |
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| State: | NSW |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -32.737778 Long: 151.551944 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Plaque |
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| Monument Theme: | Disaster |
| Sub-Theme: | Flood |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Saturday 26th February, 2005 |
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"Remember, Commemorate and Prepare"
50th anniversary of the 1955 flood
25 February 2005
This memorial plaque is dedicated to the 14 people who lost their lives in the 1955 flood
Peter Blackmore Mayor
David Evans General Manager
