> Hi Phillip, > > Funny that you should mention that, as I came across this small extract > whilst reading a 50th anniversary article on the '55 floods. > From the Newcastle Herald, Tuesday February 22, 2005 [Greg Ray] > http://www.sanitarynapkins.com.au/sanitary-napkins-articles/2005/2/22/when-the-rains-came/ > > "Ironically, Maitland's system of levee banks was later blamed for making > the situation worse by increasing the flood height and velocity of the > water. That meant, when the breaks came, the hurtling water was infinitely > more dangerous than it would otherwise have been. The first major levee > failure was Cummins Dam at Oakhampton at about noon. People who were in > Mount Pleasant St at the time say they heard two or three "explosions" and > to this day some remain convinced that authorities deliberately blew a > hole in the levee to channel the threatening water away from the more > populous Lorn side, a claim always strenuously denied. When the wall of > Cummins Dam gave way a tremendous head of water tore along Oakhampton Rd, > sweeping all before it. Houses were ripped from their foundations and > smashed against the Long Bridge that joined Telarah and the hospital to > the rest of the town. > > Regards, > Diane > Hills District > Nth West Sydney > > > -----Original Message----- > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [HV] Sketch of Long Bridge WEST MAITLAND > > > Ray, > > The Bull Street area would have taken a battering in 1955. It was in > direct line of the water flow from the Oakhampton breach. It has always > been thought the Oakhampton breach was deliberate and indeed the path of > the water became the course of the mitigation scheme developed in the > years following the flood.