Cyclone Oma is not the first cyclone to threaten Brisbane

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Cyclone Oma is tracking towards the southern coast of Queensland and the state capital of Brisbane, which many Australians may think is far away from the tropics and cyclone danger. But that is definitely not the case.

"It is unusual to have a cyclone this far south, however it is not unprecedented," Lauren Pattie, forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, said.

She mentioned Cyclone Nancy, but there are others.

Both the 1974 and 1893 floods of Brisbane were the result of tropical cyclones and many more have made their way south.

Here are a few of the cyclones that have crossed the southern Queensland coast, moved really close, or had an impact as ex-tropical cyclones.

The 'Great Flood of Brisbane'

February, 1893

The year of 1893 was before we started naming cyclones, which makes it a bit difficult to keep track of all the individual storms, but February 1893 was a very wet month for south-east Queensland.

As a cyclone crossed the coast near Yeppoon, the pressure recorded by a ship called the Buninyong suggests it had the pressure of a severe category 3 system cyclone on February 1.

Regardless of the strength of the storm, the big deal was the rain. As the system slowly moved south it dumped phenomenal amounts of rain.

In just 24 hours leading up to 9am on February 3, 907mm fell in Crohamhurst, on the Stanley River, which flows into the Brisbane River.

For a little perspective, the record-breaking rains that just fell in Townsville dumped 1052.8mm over seven days.

The flood reached 9.25 metres on the Port Office gauge in Brisbane, which has yet to be matched.

More than 150 houses were washed down the Brisbane River and smashed on bridges.

The Indooroopilly railway bridge and the Victoria Bridge were both washed away.

At least 25 people are known to have drowned.

1898 East Coast Cyclone

February 13, 1898

This cyclone, which was also unnamed was of monsoon origin, but tracked down well past Brisbane.

Its effects were felt in Sydney and southern New South Wales.

Two men drowned in floodwaters at Bungendore, near where Canberra now lies.

In Sydney, trees were uprooted, verandas were ripped off buildings, ferries suspended and a yacht capsized in the harbour.

There were 30 known deaths associated with this cyclone up and down the coast.

The Great Gold Coast Cyclone

February 20, 1954

This is the best example of a cyclone actually crossing the coast in south-east Queensland.

When it crossed the coast at Coolangatta, the pressure readings put it at a category two system — but some recordings suggest it could have been category three.

Pressure readings in Brisbane were equivalent to a category one cyclone system.

There was widespread structural damage on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts as well as around Brisbane, but Cudgen in NSW received the worst damage with houses blown apart and trees ripped from the ground.

In the 24 hours before the storm hit in Springbrook, 900mm of rain fell.

Flooding was widespread and this combined with a storm surge to pummel the coast.

Cyclone Wanda

24 January, 1974

Wanda was only a weak cyclone, but that did not prevent if from causing "arguably Australia's greatest flood event of the last 50 years", according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

It crossed the coast near Maryborough and the maximum wind gusts recorded were only 56 knots or 104 kilometres per hour at Cape Moreton [category one system].

But its slow movement brought torrential rains to south-east Queensland.

In the 24 hours to 9am on January 26, Brisbane recorded 314mm.

In the five days to 9am on January 29, Brisbane recorded 900mm and Mt Glorious recorded 1,318mm.

The impacts were huge:

12 people drowned in Brisbane and Ipswich while several people suffered heart attacks while being evacuated.

2,500 Gold Coast people were evacuated.

6,700 houses were flooded in Brisbane and Ipswich.

Damages were estimated at $200,000,000 in 1974 money.

However, Brisbane river levels didn't break the 1893 records.

Cyclone Lance

April 8, 1984

Tropical Cyclone Lance was a close call in 1984.

Lance had been declared a cyclone near Cairns a few days before but had weakened as it moved south in the Coral Sea.

On April 8, a new low was sitting 200km north-north-east of Brisbane at a pressure of approximately a category one system cyclone, but it moved away to the east on the ninth and was not classified as a tropical cyclone.

Cyclone Nancy

February 2, 1990

Nancy was another close call.

The first days of February in 1990, Cyclone Nancy moved slowly and erratically just off the Queensland coast near Brisbane.

Even though it never made landfall, 530mm of rain fell in 24 hours and 132mm fell in just three hours between the coast and coastal ranges south of Brisbane.

Flash flooding ensued and four people drowned.

Cyclone Oswald

January 27, 2013

Cyclone Oswald had an erratic path in the Gulf of Carpentaria before it proceeded down the Queensland coast.

The ex-tropical cyclone caused serious damage on its way, including tornadoes and flooding in Bundaberg.

The system passed well inland of Brisbane and eventually went back out to sea near Sydney.

Cyclone Debbie

February 2, 2017

Debbie's wind gusts were the highest ever recorded in Queensland when it made landfall at Hamilton Island on March 28, 2017.

Rather than continue inland, it sat over Airlie Beach and Proserpine, forcing them to endure cyclonic winds for hours.

Not satisfied, she moved inland, then back towards the southern Queensland coast over the next few days, reaching the south-east by March 10.

Isolated 24-hour rainfall totals of more than 600mm were recorded on the Gold Coast hinterland.

All schools south of Agnes Waters and east of Nanangaro were closed.

About 20,000 people were evacuated in the Murwillumbah and Lismore region and the flooded Tweed River closed the Bruce Highway for days.

Ms Pattie said if history shows us anything, it is that southern Queensland is not immune from cyclones, so keep an eye on the warnings.

"Regardless of whether it's a tropical cyclone or an ex-tropical cyclone we still see some tropical impacts down here in the south east," Ms Pattie said.

This article draws heavily from the Bureau of Meteorology's Historical Cyclone Impacts Along the East Coast, as well as other sources and is by no means a comprehensive list.

Topics: weather, cyclones, floods, brisbane-4000, coolangatta-2535, coolangatta-4225, noosa-heads-4567, maroochydore-4558, bundaberg-4670, sydney-2000, canberra-2600, perth-6000, darwin-0800, melbourne-3000, adelaide-5000

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