Dry creeks

As we travel on the highways I love to check out all the creeks and rivers that we cross at 100k/hr, just to see if there's water in them - the dry creek beds are very appealing to a Victorian brought up in a part of Australia where creeks usually have water in them. These creeks can be dangerous though. Rainfall upstream can result in flash floods downstream. In the photo below, of a creek near Moranbah, you can see which way the water flows - the force of a flood has almost uprooted the small shrubs on the bank.

I've been trying to think of a ballad or short story we had to read in school about the dangers of crossing one of these creeks in flood. I seem to remember drovers and cattle came into it somehow. Was it in the Readers we all had in the 50s? Maybe someone out there will know.