After the devastating flood of 1867, the first Water Brigade was formed in Windsor in 1872.

In the following decades water brigades were formed for the Clarence, Richmond, Shoalhaven and Hunter Rivers. Some were still in operation as late as 1967. In 1955, after a period of major flooding, the NSW Government setup the State Emergency Services Organisation “to coordinate the activities of various Government departments when floods and other disasters occur”.

From 1955 to 1978 thousands of flood rescues were carried out throughout NSW, often under the most hazardous conditions, without the loss of a single crewman, despite swampings, capsizes, groundings, submerged power lines, turbulence, and debris-laden currents. This record has continued in the many floods from 1978 to today.

No-one knows more about the history of flood rescue than David King, whose talk will bring you up to the present day and the latest developments in flood rescue.

Note: if you wish to attend the curator's tour of the award-winning Flood! exhibition on the same day at 1pm, you will need to book separately.