I heard on the news that 2011 has been one of the wettest in Australian
history - a bit of a contrast to the droughts of the few years prior.
Floods in urban areas were more common once - before flood mitigation
measures and improved drainage.
One area where I recall passing through flood waters in a tram as a
youngster was at Flemington Bridge where route 59 crosses the Moonee
Ponds Creek.
I found a pic in the State Library of Victoria archives showing a pretty
major flood from an even earlier period involving three cable car sets
outside the cable tram car shed in Flemington Rd at the corner of
Racecourse Rd.
Last weekend I managed to get a 'now' shot to match the 'then' pic from
the SLV archives.
http://tdu.to/FlemingtonRd_in-flood-and-in-2011.jpg
That's quite a flood - the location is 400 metres south of the creek.
Mal Rowe - a childhood denizen of the Moonee Ponds Creek