So, we hit another snag in the early days of our journey. Between July 2nd and 6th, we were stuck inside due to the rain.
Not just any rain – one of the most significant rainfall events in Australian history. Over the course of 5 days our location saw 391 milliliters (15.4 inches) of rainfall per official record. One of our neighbors said their gauge showed over 500 ml (19.7 in) when all was said and done; and there were reports of some localities in the region with over 3 feet of rain.
For comparison’s sake, the average July rainfall in Jamberoo is just 67 ml (2.6 in) and the average annual rainfall is only 1,015 ml (40 in). In 5 days we saw over 5x of the typical July, and nearly 40% of the an average year’s rainfall total for Jamberoo.
Needless to say this caused some local issues. We’re fortunately located on top of a hill so the property did not flood completely; however many area roads (including the one heading to the closest town) were closed due to flooding. A landslide destroyed one nearby mountain road, it won’t reopen for months. Additional landslides and severe flooding occurred throughout the region south/southwest of Sydney, causing significant property damage and forcing thousands of people to evacuate. Hundreds of people were rescued from flood waters by the State Emergency Service (SES).
Even Sydney’s sewer rats were driven out of their homes; with many reports of them seeking refuge by invading area houses.
This event came amid an already unusually wet year for the region, and put Sydney/New South Wales on track for the wettest year in history – already after 7 months it is the 8th wettest year on record. This was also the 4th time in 18 months the region experienced severe flooding and damage. Culprits behind the increasing rainfall are La Ninå weather patterns and, surprise surprise, human caused climate change warming the atmosphere.
On the first day with (a few hours of) sunshine following 96+ hours of consistent rainfall, we hiked down to the Minamurra river near our hosts’ property. We’d already visited this river – coincidentally one day before the rain started – so got some good “before and after” pictures of the water level.
The linked video also documents the rainstorm. Big surprise, it’s pretty much just clips of rain from the porch on different days – there wasn’t much else we could do!
It appears the worst is over by now. Water levels receded surprisingly quickly once the rain stopped, roads are reopening, and for those fortunate enough to avoid major flood damage life is returning to normal. Rain is still in the forecast, but not nearly to this extent moving forward.
Back to the journey!
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