Flooded Again

 After a period of drought, Armidale is again experiencing some heavy rain events that have filled  our local reservoirs including the Malpas and Dumaresq dams. Consequently all the incoming rain overflows immediately into local rivers like Dumaresq and Tilbuster Creeks. Earlier this week we had c. 33 mm (1.3 inches) of rain, giving us the highest flood in town I've seen for a long time. The rapidly flowing and high levels of water was, in a way, entertaining and I set out to photograph the event. Here are some of my views and, as you'll note, the skies were laden with dark cloud.

I often walk along this path close to the eastern edge of town, but I couldn't on this day.

Would you like to play football on this pitch?

Again, I'm standing on a footpath I often use. The usual Dumaresq Creek channel is at the rear of the mound of earth at the top left. And its width is usually 3-4 meters, not the huge amount shown here.

Taken from the same spot as the previous image, these next two photos show the view up-stream.

Here we are in the middle of town, but I'd stress that the creeklands are green parks and not occupied by buildings

One can cross the creek in many places via concrete causeways under which the river usually flows. This was not possible on this occasion. In the background lies the Ex-Services Club of which I am a member.

And here, on the footpath across Dumaresq Creek, I saw three migrant kids (Ezidis from northern Iraq who were horribly treated by Islamic State) trusting their luck swinging from steel poles. I suggested they give it up, which they obligingly did, because I feared having to jump in to the raging waters to rescue them.

Here's another flooded crossing with yet another pedestrian bridge I often use to get from one side to the other. On days like this pedestrians can get around more easily than cars.

Finally, this picture in the middle of town shows the river at about 8 to 10 times its usual width. Strangely, the usual inhabitants of this space, ducks, were missing! I presume that they couldn't paddle fast enough to avoid being swept downstream. They're back there now.

Since this event, winter has returned to Armidale with a sequence of cold days where the maximum temperature has hovered around 7 to 10 C and nights have been frosty. However, out many flowering bulbs and shrubs in the garden seem unaffected by those temperatures. At least the sun is now shining.

AS