WOW! Listen to it rain.

[Sunfish]

During the week we had the 10th anniversary of Townsville's most expensive flood. That night we had an ex-cyclone park over the city and dumped rain on us for hours. Tonight looks the same.

The pressure chart shows a 996 mb trough over the city:
http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/national/charts/synoptic.shtml
the infra-red satellite image shows a swirl of cloud over us:
http://www.bom.gov.au/gms/IDE00005.200801131330.shtml
The radar shows the rain centered on us:
http://mirror.bom.gov.au/products/IDR213.loop.shtml
and we have a flood warning:
IDQ20032
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Queensland



TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST
SEVERE WEATHER WARNING
for Flash Flooding
For people in the Herbert and Lower Burdekin District.
Issued at 11:10 pm on Sunday 13 January 2008

Synoptic Situation: A monsoon trough is situated from a tropical low south of
Georgetown and crossing near Cardwell on the coast. The low is expected to
approach the coast near Cardwell on Monday

 

[bernly]

Please can we have some?
I can't remember what rain sounds like.

 

[sandra07]

We had 180mls of rain in the gauge from last night. We are in Kirwan.

sandra

 

[Novar]

Wow ... radar is blue blue blue!!

Whitsundays getting a pounding too.
No much happening here in Mackay, just scattered showers so far.

 

[Sunfish]

Over a day later and little has changed. The low is still parked over Townsville and the radar still shows a lot of rain but the 100ml/hr rain has eased off.

Our dam is filled above the old spillway and is rising up the new multi-million dollar radial gates. No water restrictions for '08.

 

[Pushka]

What is rain?

 

[Strannik]

Over a day later and little has changed. The low is still parked over Townsville and the radar still shows a lot of rain but the 100ml/hr rain has eased off.

Our dam is filled above the old spillway and is rising up the new multi-million dollar radial gates. No water restrictions for '08.

oh trust me, you'll still have those

when did the government ever eased on something they've restricted?

 

[Pushka]

Apparently there has been a recent state Government meeting held with the Murray Basin Commission (something like that anyway) and they said that the State Govts do not need to be so tough with their restrictions and the irrigators anymore and there is water in the Murray Darling. This was reported on the radio today by a Politician whose party is not the Governing one, but he had been advised this by interstate counterparts. Our state Government doesnt want to tell anyone though! Maybe it earns too much money from the 'water police' fines

 

[Sunfish]

oh trust me, you'll still have those

when did the government ever eased on something they've restricted?

You're right of course.

Our council has had 3 days/wk watering for many years, regardless of storage. Since introducing strict limits on usage, has any council reduced water rates because they don't pump and treat as much? Not bleedin likely. What a cash cow the water rates are.

 

[Sunfish]

And didn't it rain.

A third of the state in flood! But don't worry southerners, an awful lot of this floodwater will end up in the Darling. You can get off the back of Cubby Station now.

 

[BV]

A third of the state in flood!.

Ouch that will be costly.
floods are not covered by insurance.

 

[Sunfish]

I don't know how to say that only small towns will be effected without sounding as if I dongivash!t. But the towns are a bit lucky in that the floods are not records and the graziers will lose stock and fences but the water has a greater worth.

On balance, so far it's good.

 

[Pushka]

Well, in SA we have learnt that most of this water will not be making it down this far. Because it will be kept in Meningee Lake for irrigators. The Murray River Mouth is now a mud flat, the Hindmarsh Island Bridge has its legs out of water, boats (transport) are stuck on mud, we can no longer access river water at Clayton due to Salinity (that is our drinking water supply), the fish are dying, the dairy farms are closing, but hey, lets grow rice upstream instead of importing it cheaply from developing countries.

So, we have a river in flood and we wont see a drop. What chance do we have?

Sunfish, dont feel too bad - they said on the radio today (if you can believe that though) that even though farmers are leaving the properties at the moment for flood, when they can return, it is all good news for them!