Flashback Gallery: The Great Triple R Flood Of 2016

22 January 2021

Rarely (if ever) do you wake up and expect your favourite radio station to get flooded because someone ran into a fire hydrant on Blyth Street overnight… but that’s exactly what happened five years ago (the official anniversary is 19 January, for all you Triple R history buffs out there). 

For over two hours, a giant fountain of water streamed through the Triple R roof cavity and down the office walls. Water gushed non-stop into the building – heavy and fast. 

Amidst the cascading indoor waterfalls, staff tried to rescue whatever equipment and furniture they could whilst also dragging beanbags and a variety of other random objects to block the water from entering the studios. The power was shut down and Triple R went off air for five hours. Adam Chamberlin from the technology crew had a genius idea: to start ripping up floorboards – that way, water ran under the building, rather than through it and into the studios.

It took three months and a full renovation for the office to get back up and running. Meanwhile, staff worked from spaces like the meeting room, green room and Performance Space, alongside the salvaged gear and drying paperwork!

Take a scroll to re-live the chaos, the damage, and – finally – the recovery.

Flashback Flood 3b
Flashback Flood 4a

Left image by Emma Buckley Lennox

Flashback Flood 5
Flashback Flood 6
Flashback Flood 7
Flashback Flood 8
Flashback Flood 9
Flashback Flood 10
Flashback Flood 11
Flashback Flood 12
Flashback Flood 13
Flashback Flood 14
Flashback Flood 15
Flashback Flood 16