In February 1888, the burgeoning town of Geraldton, Western Australia, faced a devastating natural disaster as torrential rains caused widespread flooding. The Greenough and Chapman Rivers, normally docile waterways, swelled to unprecedented levels, inundating surrounding farmland and reaching into the town itself. Homes and businesses were submerged, crops destroyed, and transportation routes severed, leaving the community isolated and struggling to cope with the immediate aftermath.

The scale of the disaster highlighted the vulnerability of early settlements to the unpredictable forces of nature and prompted calls for improved flood mitigation measures.