SE Aust Rain Bomb

[BruceK]

Lots of flooding, and no boating. Parts of northern NSW had 400mm of rain in a day. Rescues and evacuations. Days of it come, today the worst for Sydney we hope, 120mm (about 5")expected. Dams were already full, release issues downstream. Here`s a radar pic of Sydney:

 

[BruceK]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-20/back-to-back-storms-soaking-two-thirds-of-australia/13263204
Interesting update on weather pressure systems, explaining why my barometer at home is falling only slightly, still sitting at 1021, despite constant rain,torrential at times.
Weather Bureau says Warragamba,our main dam, will overflow later today, affecting rivers and some suburbs. Unfortunate if it happens, dam at 100% before this, everything downstream saturated, no absorption, = flooding runoff.
As poet Dorothea McKellar said "A land of droughts and flooding rains".
The drainage at home is coping for now.

 

[Peter B]

Bruce, I wish some of the NSW rain was falling in our dam's catchment area. In spite of a lot more rain than usual, even here in Qld, it appears to be almost deliberately not falling in our dam catchments. Yet my 5000L tank has been overflowing for weeks now.

 

[Frosty]

Parts of northern NSW had 400mm of rain in a day.

Wow. That's almost 16" (as we say up here)! That's a lot of rain.

 

[BruceK]

Bruce, I wish some of the NSW rain was falling in our dam's catchment area. In spite of a lot more rain than usual, even here in Qld, it appears to be almost deliberately not falling in our dam catchments. Yet my 5000L tank has been overflowing for weeks now.

That pesky rain just won`t respect catchment areas. Flood warning area is now from the Qld/NSW border to south of Sydney, you might get some yet.
Barometer is still high, 1022. Maybe the high in the Tasman Sea is blocking the low. Rain eased to moderate/heavy here last night, but lots of flood warnings and evacuations in low lying areas near rivers,there`s good reason it`s called a "flood plain". Warragamba dam continues spilling water. My drainage system continues working.

 

[BruceK]

Here`s an excellent ABC News update: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03...s-nsw-evacuation-orders-north-sydney/13264614.
Not out of the woods yet, a second system will shake things up.

 

[BruceK]

18000 + evacuations, 300+ rescues of 1000+ people, 5000+ insurance claims, 9000+ calls for help to the State Emergency Service, "insurance catastrophe" declared. Two rain systems have combined,the worst is not behind us yet. Half a million gigalitres a day spilling from Warragamba dam keeps flooded rivers flooded. No alternative, the water has to go somewhere.

 

[RT Firefly]

 

[BruceK]

Wow RTF, you did well finding that well expressed explanation, thank you. Its producer, SES, is the State Emergency Service, a largely volunteer organization which works both with and without Govt responders.
More evacuations today, by boat and helo, mainly along the (stunningly beautiful) Colo river. News reports include photos of cattle swept away and those not drowning ending up in odd places, beaches, front gardens, town streets, etc.
A Zoo reported doing regular head counts of its alligator exhibit, water was lapping the fences.
Tim Flannery, Climate Commentator/Alarmist with Sc.qualifications not in Climate/Weather told us in 2007 the dams would never fill again. Some parts of society adopted it. He`s strangely quiet, now, also in previous years when we have more full dams and rivers than we can handle.
Flood waters are gradually moving east towards the sea, like the prey of a snake moving through its body, flooding communities as it passes. Rain is predicted to ease tomorrow, sun, clear skies, and 30C predicted.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. BK. I'm much more than a pretty face, you know...

 

[BruceK]

Rain has stopped in Greater Sydney, plenty of floodwater yet to make its way to sea, evacuations, warnings, and isolation of communities due to flooding, road and bridge issues, continue. The south coast of NSW is getting hammered now by a low pressure system.
Sadly, but surprising it didn`t happen earlier considering the serious situation, a man apparently drowned trying to drive on a flooded roadway. Police and authorities have long and loud advised "Do Not Drive Into Floodwaters". But they do, they get stuck, and they need rescuing, which puts rescuers at risk.
Yesterday an SES rib carrying a rescued family on the flooded Hawkesbury river capsized, throwing crew and family into the water. Fast response from other vessels saved the day. I don`t know what happened but I saw a pic of the capsized boat launching on the river, although a rib it had a substantial cabin structure.
Another heroic save was the owner of a luxury houseboat fleet using a large outboard powered johnboat/punt as a pusher to divert a 40ft steel shipping container from demolishing his moored fleet of houseboats at Wisemans Ferry.

 

[BruceK]

Video of houseboat save:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03...ats-being-hit-by-shipping-container/100021970

 

[BruceK]

At the marina: large amounts of running gear attacking debris coming down in the floodwaters. Everything from fridges and freezers, a caravan,a shipping container, fuel drums,water tanks, coolroom sliding door, an 8ft 6"by 6"fence post, trees, to pumpkins....the list goes on. Most boats are staying home, we`d have gone out for the weekend after a Friday marina function but it`s just not worth the risk, especially having done a lot of running gear work in late 2020. Even Marine Rescue on the Hawkesbury are banned from operating unless directed to jobs by their overall Commander. Next weekend is the Easter 4 day long weekend(Australia is the home of the long weekend), some us think the debris will be worse by then, it seems rental houseboats and smaller craft hires are not operating. Safety first.
Happily, despite the sustained heavy rain, no rainwater entered the cabin. Very reassuring.

 

[Frosty]

Geez, that's crazy the debris you've got coming past. Sounds like you are relatively safely tucked away in your marina? Whew.

 

[BruceK]

This weekend we struggled identifying what was tied to the LJ1 mooring, one of 3 provided by National Parks in Little Jerusalem Bay. From a distance, a stand up paddle board, close up a circular poly water tank, 8-10000 Litre size, floating at water level. Some kind soul tied it to the buoy, to save boats colliding with it. Tough to remove, probably why it`s still there, detritus from the floods.