Times Past: April 1, 1971

About 45 minutes had elapsed from the time rain first began falling to the time when severe flooding occurred at an intersection at which five or six of the people died, he told parliament.

"In such a situation, nothing could be done to prevent the tragedies," he said. "Even those present at the scenes of the tragedies from the outset were unable to help the victims."

His department had been unable to find an adequate warning system in the case of equally serious flooding, which was likely to occur less frequently than once every 100 years.

There had been no previous experience to demonstrate how quickly the Melrose Drive intersection could become dangerous through flooding.

But Mr Hunt said that the department had found "the presence of warning signs or depth indicators or better lighting might have helped to avoid or reduce the loss of life at the intersection, but whether this would actually have been the case in the circumstances of this particular storm is doubtful".

No changes had been revealed or suggested which would have ensured adequate warning of such serious and sudden flooding. Warning signs and depth indicators had been installed, however, and the lighting was to be improved.

Interchange plans Mr Hunt said, "Although not as a result of the flood, the particular crossing of the Yarralumla Creek where five lives are known to have been lost - and probably the sixth - will be replaced by a high-level flood-free interchange, construction of which is to commence next financial year".

See https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/11953925