Would Perth cope with 100-year flood?

SCORES of suburbs line Perth's river system, but just how would the city hold up against a massive flood?

The earliest record of the Swan River flooding was in 1830 when the river rose by 6m and the largest occurred in 1862 when three weeks of relentless heavy rain over the Swan-Avon catchment covered Perth, including the Causeway in over 2m of flood waters for weeks. Four people were reportedly killed during the floods, properties and farms destroyed and the bridge over Canning River was washed away.

* In July 1872 storm surge caused severe flooding through Perth and into surrounding suburbs. The Helena River was 0.7 metres higher than the 1862 flood.

* In July 1926 severe and widespread flooding in the Avon, Swan and Helena River districts caused the Fremantle railway bridge and Upper Swan bridge to collapse.

* In March 1934, the Swan River rose 5.8m in less than eight hours at Guildford causing considerable damage to unharvested grapes.

*The most recent major flood Swan River flood was in 1983 when 100mm of rain fell in 48 hours on a 'very wet catchment' flooding the upper Swan Valley and threatening some properties in Bassendean and Guildford.

Could Perth be devastated by extreme flooding like parts of Queensland?
Perth is not usually associated with heavy rain or extreme flooding, but history shows the risk is real.

Is your suburb flood-prone?
According to the Bureau of Meteorology if a flood were to hit Perth the most seriously affected areas would be Bassendean, Bayswater, Belmont, Maylands, Guildford and Midland. Low lying areas, such as Riverside Drive, Langley Park and Fremantle would also be hit.
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