Emergency services have responded to ~hundreds~ of calls for help in New South Wales this weekend after major flooding in parts of the state including the Upper Hunter and Singleton region.
As an extreme fuck you to those of us who were hoping for a sunny start to summer, Mother Nature has decided to start La Niña season early.
After intense amounts of rainfall hit the state this past week, parts of the state have been met with major flooding and road closures, with locals in the Upper Hunter region and Singleton ordered to evacuate.
Since Friday, more than 30 people have been rescued by State Emergency Services (SES) across NSW, with nearly 800 calls for help.
Particular areas of concern are in Upper Hunter, Gunnedah, as well as Northeastern parts of the state, and Central Western parts near Castlereagh River.
According to the Bureau of Metereology (BoM) via SBS News, some parts of NSW were hit with 100mm of rainfall on Friday alone. As The Viviene says on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK: “I’m dripping”.
On that same night, the Warragamba Dam started to spill. By Saturday morning, it was spilling at a rate of roughly 60 to 80 gigalitres a day. Oof.
Dam Spill! #warragamba #NSWFloods #floods #NSW pic.twitter.com/kadxc6BezS
— Aaron Hollett ACS (@AaronHollett) November 27, 2021
BoM confirmed this morning that Singleton was just 0.3m below the major flooding level of 13m.
Flood Update: #Singleton currently just 0.3m below the Major Flood level of 13m. Conditions should start to ease today. An Evacuation Order is still in place. Keep an eye on river & road conditions and follow instruction from Emergency Services @NSWSES https://t.co/LQtkA4SOSk pic.twitter.com/gq2zQPOHNO
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) November 27, 2021
Conditions appear to have eased but experts are warning that more cats and dogs are expected to rain down on us later this coming week.
“The weather event we’re experiencing at the moment is quite a significant event across the whole of New South Wales,” State Emergency Services commissioner Carlene York told reporters this morning via The Guardian.
“It is expected that the rain will continue. It might ease at the beginning of the week but there’s another front coming closely behind that.
“So, at the moment, the circumstances are that all our dams are full and some are on alert and are going up to capacity.”
In absolutely insane footage, the water rose so high in Gunnedah that a man was seen catching a carp with his own bare hands literally on the street in his suburban home, which feels like a very “this is fine” approach to our sudden Nin-apolcapyse.
It’s not everyday you can catch a carp in a residential street in #Gunnedah with your bare hands, but floodwaters from the Namoi River have risen even further overnight, and this big boy has come with it @9NewsSyd @nbnnews pic.twitter.com/juLHKMBohv
— Jessica Worboys (@JessicaWorboys) November 27, 2021
On Thursday, a pair of blokes escorted their horses across floodwaters in the Upper Hunter.
From drought to flood all in the space of a couple of years. Our fearless leader Mike, doesn’t mind a wet track to get these girls & their foals to higher ground. We might have some mud larks amongst this years foal crop after astonishing rainfall in the Upper Hunter 🌧️ pic.twitter.com/eDg7I4DzeI
— Bhima Thoroughbreds (@BhimaTBreds) November 26, 2021
While you’re here, catch this drone footage of the floods in Scone that feels rather cinematically terrifying. Fortunately, according to the person behind the video, Dimity Smith, “the cows are safe and accounted for”. Thank god.
Views from the top at home on the farm today. Please note: all cows safe and accounted for! #SconeNSW #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/s6jr2xbI3u
— Dimity Smith (@smithdimity) November 25, 2021
Hello from a very saturated #Singleton. Thankfully, we’ve escaped major flooding. #Hunter River currently at 12.68m at moderate flooding levels @abcnews pic.twitter.com/brcRhVWwkA
— Bridget Murphy (@bridgetrose97) November 27, 2021
Already an extraordinary amount of water around #Singleton and the Hunter River hasn’t even reached the moderate flood level… @abcnews pic.twitter.com/CJmypTzxuD
— Jake Lapham (@JakeLapham) November 27, 2021
Singleton’s Cook Park is completely underwater this morning… not that Tilly the dog minds! @nbnnews #Singleton pic.twitter.com/ATauIuKT4I
— Isobella Evans (@BellaEvansNBN) November 28, 2021
Looking at these clips, it’s official. We’re having a Wet Girl Summer, and not the cute and sexy kind. Now, if you need me, I’ll be reading these new books in an attempt to avoid admitting that La Niña is here.
