February 4 – highest floods on record Brisbane and elsewhere; 6ft water in Edward Street at the Courier Buildings; hundred of houses washed down river, trees uprooted and shipping torn from moorings; shores of Moreton Bay strewn with wreckage. On 5th Indooroopilly Bridge was washed away; pm the 6th the northern end of Victoria Bridge disappeared; flood waters rose at Brisbane to 23 feet 9 inches above mean spring tide and 10 feet over the previous highest flood mark (1890). Similar disaster befell other towns where bridges and houses disappeared by hundreds; at Gympie many of the mines were blown up; much loss of life reported particularly from Ipswich. Rainfall at Crohamhurst, head of Brisbane water was 105 inches between 1st January and 11th February. A second flood almost reaching the level of the first was experienced on the 19th, a lesser one having prevailed on the 13th. South Brisbane was without fresh water for some days and the whole of Brisbane practically in darkness at night. A very large relief fund (70,000 pounds) was established, subscriptions in money and in kind arriving from England as well as from the other colonies.
In the Early Days: History and Incident of Pioneer Queensland by J J Knight - p 387.