When the devastation was collated, 14 people had lost their lives and the cost of the damage at the time was put at A$200m.
It was the city's worst flooding of the century.
The high water mark that almost drowned the city 37 years ago was recorded at 5.45m (17.9ft).
Queensland's current Premier Anna Bligh says the flood surge coming to Brisbane on Wednesday and Thursday may well be similar.
'Reluctance'
By late January in 1974, almost every river in Queensland was in flood.
A very slow moving monsoonal trough producing heavy rain had drifted further south than normal and then met the weakening cyclone Wanda over Brisbane.
The city, which at 911,000 had less than half the population it has now, saw 6,700 homes totally or partially flooded. It had been an exceptionally wet spring, and by the end of October most of southern Queensland's river systems were nearing capacity. Cyclone Wanda pushed the systems to the limit, and drew the Monsoonal Trough southward, providing the additional rainfall to the Brisbane valley to produce widespread and severe flooding. The floods peaked at 6.6 metres (22 ft) according to the Port Office gauge at high tide at 2:15 am on January 29.[1] The peak flooding in the location of the city gauge was approximately 5.5 metres (18 ft).[2]
Continual, heavy rain had fallen for three weeks, leading up to the flood, which occurred on Sunday, 27 January 1974, during the Australia Day weekend. Large areas were inundated, with at least 6,700 homes flooded. Damage at the time was estimated at some $200 million. The 67,320 tonne Robert Miller unmoored and became adrift in the river. Two tugs were needed to control the large oil tanker. A barge was sunk after becoming caught under and damaging the Centenary Bridge.
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