Canberra - A burst of rain on Thursday brought much-needed
relief to eastern Australia amid the bush fire crisis, but
authorities also warned of potential dangerous conditions caused by
the storms to come.
Severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued for regions including
bush fire-hit areas in New South Wales (NSW), where more than 80
blazes are still burning.
"The rains on the way!" The Bureau of Meteorology said on its Twitter
account. "Severe Thunderstorm Warnings are current for eastern NSW
with storms expected to last into the night."
The Blue Mountains suburb of Faulconbridge recorded NSW's highest
rainfall in the past 24 hours with 45 millimetres. The weather bureau
forecast that up to 100 millimetres of rain would fall in some areas.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Storm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Stormclouds rolling into #Edgeroi near #Narrabri in NSW this afternoon are set to soak parched paddocks. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings are current for eastern NSW with storms expected to last into the night. Current warnings: https://t.co/TBsl68S81a pic.twitter.com/sKywwwpHF3
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW)
The widespread rain across areas where bush fires have ravaged large
swathes of land was celebrated by many, with the word "rain"
beginning to trend on Twitter.
The rain is also a much welcome respite for the firefighters who have
been battling bush fires for more than three months in many areas.
"Relief is here for a number of firefighters working across NSW.
Although this rain won't extinguish all fires, it will certainly go a
long way towards containment," NSW's Rural Fire Service said on
Twitter.
Authorities also warned about possible landslips, flash flooding, and
contaminated ash water flowing into river systems.
"While the rain is welcomed, heavy rainfall and storms in
fire-affected areas can lead to dangerous conditions such as a higher
risk of flash flooding, falling trees and landslips," Paul
Bailey, the state's emergency services assistant commissioner, told
reporters.
The wet weather is likely to continue until Monday across eastern
Australia.
In celebration, one NSW farmer Nick Andrews shaved off his beard,
which he had vowed to grow until an inch of rain fell on his sheep
station near Broken Hill in outback Australia.
It did not for the past 21 months, but overnight 36 millimetres of
shower fell on his property, Australian broadcaster ABC reported.
"It was just torrential downpour. Flooded the place," he told ABC.
In Victoria, "isolated thundery showers in eastern and mountain"
areas have been forecast for the next two days, said the weather
bureau, but removed "Severe Thunderstorm Warning" for the state.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/rainfall?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#rainfallcurrently on the southern firegrounds. Also tracking significant falls in #fire areas further north. Storms are moving through broad areas triggering multiple warnings for #NSW& #ACT https://t.co/oO6QJYCNYF Live radars at https://t.co/VtuY4baNt2 #nswfires pic.twitter.com/UtO4HwxYas
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW)
Heavy rain, flash flooding and thunderstorms swept across Melbourne
and into the bush fire-hit eastern part of the state overnight.
The fire regions saw just 5 to 10 millimetres of rain, according to
the Bureau of Meteorology, which was not enough to suppress blazes.
The rainstorm did help clear the hazardous bush fire smoke blanketing
Melbourne city since Tuesday.
Some 40 bush fires were burning in Victoria on Thursday evening, but
none of them at the highest "emergency" alert level.
The bush fires across Australia have already burned more than 11.8
million hectares of land since September. At least 28 people have
died and more than 1 billion animals killed.
Last week, the Bureau of Meteorology said Australia had its hottest
and driest year on record in 2019 and that the link between the bush
fires and record low rainfall and increased temperatures was clear.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of fish may have died after rain washed
sediments and ash from bush fires into the Macleay River on the NSW
mid-north coast, Australian news agency AAP reported.
"It's devastating. It's unprecedented," Bellbrook resident Arthur
Bain told AAP on Thursday.
Rainfall is adding ash from the bush fires and other sediments to
catchments in the region which can cause rapid drops of oxygen levels
in the water, NSW department of primary industries said in a
statement on Thursday.