Here’s some information and a gallery of photos taken during the floods in late April, early May 1988 at Shoalhaven Heads.

Flood facts: Flood height at Nowra: 4.5m A.H.D, Shoalhaven Heads: 2.4m A.H.D (higher than the 1978 flood). The ‘Heads river entrance was closed prior to the flood then the ‘notch’ was lowered by council on 29th April to below 2.0m A.H.D. The entrance breach commenced approx. 7am on 30th April. Flood peak occurred at approx. 9am.

Note: Flood levels are provided as a level relative to Australian Height Datum (AHD). AHD is the reference point for all elevations on the ground. In Australia this reference point is generally mean sea level which is taken as 0 metres AHD.

Many thanks to a long time resident, Rob, for providing the information and the great shots. He has also passed on a collection of some dramatic photos showing the open river entrance around the same time. I’ll get best of these into a new gallery soon.

If you have some memories of the floods and how they affected you, why not write us a comment below? We’d love to hear some stories!