Despite 75 per cent of NSW being either under water or threatened by floodwaters as the state buckles under its heaviest rains since the 1920s, my wife and I braved the rain this morning to do our weekly marketing. It took us longer than usual as the traffic was heavy and slow due to the wet condition on the road.
While in the traffic we heard from the radio that Sydney school children in areas near Warragamba Dam have been advised to stay at home today as the reservoir looks set to overflow for the first time in 14 years. The dam has reached 95 per cent capacity on last night and is predicted to spill over into the already swollen Murrumbidgee, Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers any moment today. Remember when former Prime Minister John Howard said a couple of years ago, that we better pray for rain? The Maker must have heard an awful lot of people. Within a short time, the sky broke the La Nina’s curse and brought much relief to farming communities throughout the state. Since then, I reckon He must have forgotten to turn off the tap. It was only last month that many communities in Queensland and Northern NSW remembered the lost of their loved ones and properties during of the first anniversary services of the flood that brought immeasurable grief to so many people.
As I write, residents of four towns, Bega, Cowra, Goulburn and Cooma have been evacuated as floodwaters sweep across NSW. People living in some properties in the outer western Sydney enclaves of Pitt Town, Gronos Point and Lower Richmond are also on alert as the Hawkesbury threatens to burst its banks.
I know we need water but don’t pour them by the buckets. Turn off the tap, please. I know you hear me!
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