A Drop of Rain ...

So ... it rained.

Now that seems a very normal thing to say and if you're reading this outside of Australia you would be thinking 'big deal'... but when I say it rained it's would need a much better word.

It poured?
It teemed down?
It inundated?

None of those seem to say what the bloody rain did - it invaded.

On Saturday morning we had a couple of showers - just a sprinkling or two but it was foreboding. The BOM (Bureau of Meteorology) had warned everyone living on the east coast of Australia to be prepared. Queensland had some very heavy rain and with an east coast low developing it was expected the whole east coast would be hit.

So Saturday morning's sprinkling wasn't too bad - I went to my Life Study painting, get home around 2:30pm - the clouds were gathering.

What followed was crazy.

Parramatta Ferry before the rain

Between late Saturday afternoon and the early hours of Monday morning it rained - and rained and rained and rained.

The wind howled the rain fell and just never seemed to stop.

About 16km from where I live.

I checked with the BOM's site for my area. Over my house between Sat and 9am Monday morning I had over 250cm of rain - that's over 8'2" for those who still use that system. All in less than 36 hours!!!

Collaroy Beach - NSW

Up and down the coast everyone got pounded. Flooding and trees down from the gale force winds.

I live about 48km inland but still got hammered. Those living on the coast had to battle with king tides as well. Slowly the system moved down Australia until it reached Tasmania and that poor island almost sank under the weight of the weather.

Sadly at least five people are dead (3 in NSW, 1 in Canberra and 1 in Tasmania) and the search goes on for those missing.

The insurance bill for property damage in NSW has already reached $56 million already but will certainly rise substantially over the coming weeks. Who knows how high it will go once the Tasmanian, Queensland and Victorian figures are added. The Tasmanian government has stated the damage bill for the state could reach $100 million.

The BOM have now warned of another severe weather alert for southern NSW - this time a severe wind warning ahead of a cold front for some areas that have been affected by the east coast low.

This link shows the trail of the storm - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-06/east-coast-storm-mapped/7481572