It’s like the news has been a broken record of late. Flood danger here, more rain to come there – we’re not out of the woods yet.
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The media can get hammered for being too sensational in reporting its news.
They can also get hammered for being too repetitive – but it is important to remember while for some the never ending rainfall is merely an annoyance, for others it is a serious concern for travel, livelihoods and safety.
Last week’s unprecedented storm front that lashed South Australia and knocked out its supply of electricity was not blown out of proportion.
There were genuine fears the brunt of ‘Frankenstorm’ would land in our region, delivering what could have been a knock-out blow in the current flood bout. The forecast wasn’t made up by us – it all came from the government’s weather agency, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
And even though we didn’t receive the damaging winds or the golf-ball hail, we still received more than enough rain.
In the four days the weather system was upon us, vital catchment areas were drenched.
Blowering Dam copped more than 125mm of rain in that time – shooting its capacity level from just under 92 per cent to 95 per cent.
Over the same time, Burrinjuck Dam, which has a smaller total capacity, copped a more modest but still significant downpour of 88.2mm – spiking it from 88.3 per cent on Thursday to 99.5 per cent on Sunday.
Burrinjuck has been forced to release water to keep it at manageable levels and has fluctuated between around 90 per cent and 100 per cent for weeks now.
It all means our system is full to the brim and if the weather continues the way it has been through September, there is a genuine chance of major flooding in and around towns like Darlington Point and Wagga. If Blowering Dam is forced to release water in a similar way to its neighbour Burrinjuck, we could see this scenario eventuate.
The rain forecast for Monday and Tuesday is the last of the significant rain weather systems to cross our path – at least for a little while – according to weather models.
But, the BOM has given its outlook for the rest of the year – above average rainfall right through to December.
The best take-home message from all of this is that we need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
