After the floods

So now we are in recovery mode, following the floods last week over the whole North Coast NSW and southern Qld.

The flood on the Clarence River system (which starts in the Border ranges to the north, west to the Great Dividing Range, and south to the Dorrigo Plateau) was the fastest rising flood that I have seen here in 36 years, and was also the first major flood event that involved all the tribuartaries to the Clarence River System at one time. Whilst the peak levels were somewhat lower than the 2001 flood (450mm lower at Grafton), the damage bill is going to be astramonical due to the ferocity and rapid rate of rise in the river levels

Reports are starting to come in of people who have lost up to 150 head of cattle,and countless cases where people have lost their source of income for a substantial time, till they can get feed back in their paddocks, repair fences and other structures, andtry to return to a normal life.

Personally, I am one of the lucky ones who has had relativelly minimal losses. I had all of the fences on the lower parts of the property flattened, with the subsequent dramas of juggling cattle into 30% of the place for a week till the boundary fences could be rebuilt (about 700Meters) - still havnt had a chance to check out what is left of half of my internal fences - some of it may be totally gone- and havnt even got to see what damage has been done along the river banks

Still and all, once I had moved the cattle to high ground, the biggest worry that I had was the possibility of losing my electricity supply, as the fridge & freezer were stocked up for a weekend of the ruggies visit( + no pressure pump to put water into the house - lol )

In amongst all of this, we witnessed again the stupidity of a few teenagers who thought it was right to go and frolic in flood waters. A night in the cooler might have made an impression, as that is where they ended up - should have been a week or more though.