Addition: For a completely different view look at this dust storm
In the big smoke when the rain falls the State Emergency Service and others come out to set things right. In the 50% of Australia where 0.1% of the population lives things are not always that simple. It took us four days to dig out the road train bringing the food to the community (see the videos below).
Currently the nearest the food truck can get is 125km to us (nearly 300km to the most distant) and we have been bringing pallets of vegies on the back of 4wds and a load of bread in my troopie. We will have to drive over to get our Christmas hams and turkey as it is unlikely a truck will get through in the next couple of weeks
A couple of days ago I posted a Weather Report. It had a few pictures, but today in my Pleasant Sunday Afternoon post there are videos and pictures galore.
The pictures in the slide show are not in any order, but are from December 1st to the 10th. Don’t forget to check out the videos below.
It took us a couple of days before we heard the truck was bogged. It took two cars to get out to him as the roads were a little “iffy”. Watch the video for part of the drive out to the truck. I apologise for the sound…but I love being where I am!
It took us until Thursday to get the truck out of the 1st hole. We had to pump water out of low lying areas to assist the road to dry out and take the weight of 75tonnes. However we had to leave the second trailer behind and hit the road at speed with 45 tonne on the back.
Eight kilometres down the road and the truck was stuck again. There was no way to get past, forcing us off the road with the troopie in low range as we led our little earthmover along the high ground to try and get in front of the truck. This also sank and took us a little while to get out.
The pump got rid of a lot of the water, but we had to manually unload 8 tonne of food stuffs to lighten the load on the rear axles to make it easier to pull out. The food, box by box, was placed into the bucket of our little tractor and driven out of the mud to then load into a small truck for the run into the community.
Two days later right on dusk the truck was freed and did a high speed run into town as the rain started to fall, thankfully not getting stuck again.
Watching rain on video can be a bit boring. But there is an occasional flash of lightning and clap of thunder. If you haven’t heard the sound of rain on a tin roof then this is also the video for you! Only roughly edited – do I need to fade in and out for rain?
If you have made it all the way to here, take a look at the following posts that you might enjoy such as my video on my Peak Hour Traffic and my little post about a Drive in the Country.
We’ve had over seven inches of rain in the last few weeks. Not bad for a desert where not much rain is needed to make things sticky. It leads to flights being missed, cars being bogged, food trucks being bogged (ever try to unbog a road train), and roads flooded and impassable anywhere from 24hrs to weeks, with a big disruption to services and plans.
Our community has been having daily (if not more frequent) generator failures and today all communication across the lands (and into Alice) was disrupted for most of the day with an equipment failure (being out here it probably won’t make the news). Wingellina, due to flooding and irregular deliveries has run out of fuel for vehicles. Unsure about fuel left to run the community generators. Here is a weather report I sent out a few days ago.
Weather Report
Great Central Road to the west of Warakurna (Giles) (70km wide storm front) and all Mulga Park Road through to Wingellina has had rain continuously from about 7pm (now midnight WDT) from 2-6mm an hour. Wingellina is in the middle of the 70km wide storm front. Suggest Mulga Park Road will be difficult if not impassable, and probably closed by Shire.
Why was it on the Cut Road?
Occasional heavy showers have been falling over Great Central Road further west (east of Warburton). Wanarn has also been rather damp. Road east of Giles to Docker River also receiving rain.
Roadhouse at WBR informed me Wingellina could not get a vehicle out along bottom road up to pick up stores. The Wingellina-Blackstone road has been receiving the same rain as Mulga Park Road. Shire vehicle travelled road on Tuesday and got through. Today anecdotal reports of number of cars stranded as people try to get to Amata for a funeral.
Storm front
Jameson to Blackstone road has had very long extended water on road (several hundreds of metres) and has been receiving showers over the last five hours. Vehicle from Blackstone apparently did manage to get out to retrieve stores from Warburton today (Wednesday)
The Cut Road from Jameson to the Great Central Road is impassable 30km from highway. A track has been made to the west through higher, but still waterlogged ground just prior to logs over road. This alternative route may be impassable depending on amount of rain. Regular showers of up to 2mm/hr have been falling on Cut Road since 6pm. There is a tree over the road (16km) and some very marshy ground where truck was previously bogged (36km from central road). Two vehicles will be travelling out that way from Jameson early am. Will know more then!
Warburton – Jameson Road has been receiving occasional light rains. Bog ~40km from Warburton quite slippery and deep with numerous vehicles bogged there in last few days. Otherwise Warburton side of road is not bad. Jameson side has large amounts of water still on road and road washed completely away in a couple of places. Stick to road or well defined side tracks as country is completely waterlogged.
Five cars pulled from bogs on roads around Jameson today prior to current rains. This has included some you-beaut white fella 4wds including one whose front suspension broke and tyres damaged as he found a hole a bit deeper than usual.
Thunderstorms expected Thursday morning.
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A man walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “If I show you a really good trick, will you give me a free drink?” The bartender considers it, then agrees. The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tiny rat. He reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a tiny piano. The rat stretches, cracks his knuckles, and proceeds to play the blues. After the man […]
All opinions expressed here are those of their authors and not of their employers. The information provided here is of a general nature only and is not intended to provide pharmaceutical or medical advice or even advice about living bush.
In other words: If you travel bush make sure you seek advice and are prepared. If you are sick, don't be a nong and rely on information in the blog but see a health professional for assistance
