While much of south east Australia has been sweating through a huge heatwave, over in the west, the problem has been the massive rains.
And the resultant flooding has caused significant issues to travellers.
In the Kimberley, the Great Northern Highway remains closed in both directions between Yurabi Rd and Bridge St, and the Gibb River Road is closed in both directions between Lennard River and the Great Northern Highway.
There has also been significant rainfall further south in WA. The Bureau of Meteorology has been urging residents across the Goldfields and Midwest-Gascoyne — particularly those in Balladonia, Cocklebiddy, Eyre, Laverton, Rawlinna and Zanthus — to prepare for conditions that are ‘not typical weather for southeastern Western Australia’.
Heavy rains have caused major issues. PIC: Benfe / Pixabay
Main Roads WA is urging motorists travelling on the Eyre Highway between between Balladonia and Madura to exercise extreme caution due to heavy rains and flooding.
But it’s not just the disruption to the transport network that is giving travellers – and van park operators – flooding-related headaches.
In WA’s remote north west, the owner of a tourist park of near Wyndham in the East Kimberley told the ABC the deluge had flooded his campground … and left him keeping a wary eye out for crocodiles.
Parry Creek Farm owner, Mark Dyson, said there were generally got two resident crocodiles living at Parry Creek … Mr Gucci and Miss Prada.
“I haven’t seen them for some time … they normally disappear in the wet season to find love, so hopefully they’ve gone far, far away,” he said. “You never know with murky brown water what’s lurking, so best to play it safe.”
Mr Dyson said the water had come up at a ‘hundred miles per hour’ and he needed a canoe and dinghy to get across the campground … but he was not unduly fazed.
“There’s the potential to flood each year … we put everything up high and we lift all the furniture off the ground,” he said. “I’ve got to do a lot of mopping and a lot of cleaning up before our visitors arrive in May.”
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