Australia really is a land of contrasts. A severe drought and devastating bushfires have been followed by torrential rain and flooding in some areas. Lake Conjola, on the far south coast of NSW, saw many houses destroyed in the fires in January, now the town is under water. The lake has an entrance to the sea, but this was silted up with sand, so extremely heavy rain caused the lake to flood. Residents are angry with the local council for not clearing the entrance despite the forecast of imminent rain, and requests from residents. The entrance was eventually cleared by bulldozers, but not before water had entered many houses and caravans.
We here on the far north coast have had over 430 mm of rain so far this year, although towns right on the coast had much more. The transformation of the landscape has to be seen to be believed, it's gone from brown and almost grassless, to lush green in a few weeks, it looks wonderful - I've even had to mow the lawn three times
However, I'm not complaining, the creek is running again and our small paddock dam is full
While the rain was quite widespread, there are still some areas that need more, so the drought is not over yet. There are still a lot of fires burning, but most are being controlled, and there's little or no danger to life or property. More rain is forecast, so it could be wet for a while yet.
Peter.