destroyed. A hole torn in the main street was later found to contain two large semi-trailers. The floods took altogether the lives of 25 people. Some 2,000 cattle and many thousands of head of other livestock were drowned. The damage to bridges, roads, railways and telephone lines took months to repair. There also were millions of pounds worth of crops destroyed. Timeline Below in a timeline of the six days over which Maitland was ravaged by floodwaters: 24 February 1955 – Torrential rain covers the Hunter Valley. Flights are cancelled at Williamtown Airport. First lives are lost as floodwaters submerge Singleton, stranding 600 people at the railway station and convent. People living in low-lying areas of Maitland are warned of imminent evacuation as water rises across the valley and an emergency declared. During the night, Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter goes under water and a mail train crashes into floodwaters at Togar. 25 February 1955 – 1100 people stand stranded on the platform at Singleton Railway Station as the Hunter River begins to overflow in the Maitland suburb of Bolwarra. The main crossing over the river, the Belmore Bridge, is closed at 8:30am and evacuation of the city begins. The Mayor of Maitland warns of an approaching "wall of water" at 11am as the first major levee failures occur, first at Oakhampton where homes are instantly ripped from their foundations. Before nightfall, water is 2 m deep on the city's main thoroughfare, High Street. Five men are swept to their deaths across the city, three at the railway station. During the night, floodwaters thunder through the city. 21 homes are washed away on one residential street alone, many occupants still inside or clinging to rooftops. Only female victim of the flood, Elizabeth Dickson is swept to her death in pitch darkness. 26 February 1955 – Australian Army DUKWs and Surf Life Saving Australia surfboats rescued over 1000 people across the city, many stranded on rooftops. A Royal Australian Navy Bristol Sycamore helicopter hits power lines in Maitland – four people who were being taken to safety while they dangled from a rope were electrocuted and another died after falling; the helicopter crashed and exploded, killing two of the crew. An army DUKW carrying military, police and ambulance personnel at Louth Park struck live power lines; the resulting electrical strike instantly killed two soldiers and caused the later death of a