Bega Pioneers' Museum has countless files on people and places. One is the history of Bega floods, 1851-1978, written by Bernice E Smith.
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A SMALL flood occurred in 1935 when in November, 251 points fell. The mouth of the river had closed, only to be opened by the local farmers and punts men. The roads were a quagmire but no-one complained as seasonable conditions were the best for years with the rainfall at 34 inches.
1936 was a good year for the man on the land with rain most months but no floods, and 1937 followed the same pattern except in June when 8 inches fell, causing a small flood. Rainfall for the year was 33 inches.
The good seasons of 1936 and 1937 were followed by a low rainfall year in 1938. There were, however, good crops of maize on the flats and hay was still plentiful.
1939 brought heavy rain in January, February and March, with considerable damage to roads and bridges. The winter was fairly dry and by October it was very dry. It did not rain until December, when a welcome change brought 8 inches of rain.
Some below-average rainfall years followed but there was still enough moisture to keep the paddocks green. 1944 was a dry year, and although it rained on 59 days there were only 26.25 inches. In 1945 it rained on 80 days with 29.88 inches. In 1946 there were over 70 wet days which yielded 27.03 inches and 1947 was better with 87 wet days and 32.53 inches of rain.
The New Year of 1948 came in wet, the Bega Races being held in heavy rain. An old hand remarked that the rain was the heaviest experienced at a Cup Meeting for over 50 years. The weather continued wet in Bega and Candelo, where shows were disrupted. Later on in April, heavy gales blew up causing a lot of damage. Trees were blown on to road ways, power failures occurred and buildings were damaged. At Candelo the Royal Hotel lost part of its balcony, while at Eden, boats were blown onto the rocks. During the worst of the storm 142 points of rain fell in one day. The rest of the year had average rainfall, and in 1949 no serious flooding occurred.
1950 was a wet year, with a flood in February. Poplar Avenue and Bega Street were covered with flood waters and the flood boat had to be used again on Jellat. It was decided by Imlay Shire that only those on urgent business, or cases of sickness, could be transported over the flats by boat.
