Dozens of travellers have been trapped as heavy rain has fallen in the South Australian Outback, causing normally dry creeks to run and roads to be flooded.
Up to 80mm of rain has fallen in some areas in the past 24 hours, catching a few adventurers by surprise. It is not kwon if grey nomads are among them, More than 40 people were trapped at the remote William Creek Hotel last night, but owner Trevor Wright told the Adelaide Advertiser that the pub was well stocked with beer and the stranded travellers were in good spirits.
“Some people could be here for a while though as it looks like more rain to come,” he said. “I was in Ayers Rock yesterday and there were big storms — it’s a very unusual weather pattern.”
The weather bureau has warned that the unusual tropical air mass coming down from Northern Territory and Queensland would deliver more rain to the state into early next week.
“There are anecdotal reports of rainfall in the 40-80mm range in the region in the past 48 hours which is significant with more rain to come,” senior forecaster, Tom Boeck, told the Advertiser. “It’s certainly unusual to have this length of humid tropical weather in early March.”
The State Emergency Service has again urged travellers to be wary of flash flooding.
“Our advice is to never drive, ride or walk through floodwater,” said SES state duty officer Sara Pulford. “It can only take a few centimetres of fast-flowing water to sweep a car away … you simply don’t know what’s in the water, how strong or deep the current is, or what has happened to the road surface underneath.”
Really! March can be one of the wettest months in the summer cycle. I lived in Cairns for over 20 years and the locals used to say “it rains nine months of the year, then the wet season sets in” that included the wettest month of March. I must be getting old………
We were 2 of the 11 people that were stranded at Wiliam Creek from last Tuesday until the road to Coober Pedy opened at 3pm on Friday.
Not sure where the other 21 people were hiding…………