I'm so excited about the coming weekend. It looks like we are going to get rain- and lots of it!
From the ABC:
NSW flood warning in wake of Cyclone Laurence
Authorities are warning of widespread flooding across north-western New South Wales, as Cyclone Laurence breaks up and moves inland.
Rainfall of more than 200 millimetres is predicted around Gilgandra, Coonamble and Bourke, tracking across to Narrabri and Moree and reaching the Queensland-New South Wales border late on Christmas Day.
Flooding is expected in the Castlereagh, Bogan, Lower Namoi and Lower Macquarie Rivers.
Gordon McKay, from the Bureau of Meteorology's Flood Warning Centre, says it is a long time since he has seen a weather map like it.
"We have had discussions with the State Emergency Service about an hour ago and historically these are quite high falls," he said.
"The actual message will be roads will be flooded and of course it certainly will have an impact on people's travel plans.
Inconvenient, i'm sure for those travelling, but a welcome change all the same.
ReplyDeleteLois, we are all beside ourselves in anticipation. I just hope that reality meets our expectations! Some of these areas have been in drought for 7 or more years- not up our way but certainly further south. Farms have had no incomes. There has been no water for irrigation. Some towns on the Macquarie river have been told there is no water left in the dams for them.For some of the outback towns this will be like getting a year's rainfall in a weekend. It will also send water right through the Darling and Murray Rivers all the way to South Australia.Our geography is pretty simple. There is a mountain range that runs the full length of the east coast. Pretty much everything west of the range from southern Queensland right down to Victoria ends up in either the Murray river which forms the border between Victoria and NSW, or else in to the Darling which basically runs down the far western part of NSW. These then link up and flow down towards Adelaide. All of those other rivers, the Namoi (where we are), the Castlereagh, Lachlan- they all flow towards the Murray-Darling.This area is a massive food bowl not just for us but for the world. This could be a generational event, quite literally. It's not quite once in a lifetime- but after so long a drought it will seem like it.We're just praying that the worst fears of the authorities come to pass :)BTW the importance of this is seen in the fact that Port Lincoln in South Australia yesterday endured devastating bush-fires. It's on a peninsula that was just a little too far south to have got the rain. Much of NSW, particularly south and west of here, is on bushfire alert. This rain will make the bushfire threat disappear until next summer once the rain comes.
ReplyDeleteI'm praying for rain for you!
ReplyDeleteThey are still forecasting rain starting this afternoon :yes:
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