Wild Times in southern Oz

I'll catch up with comments on VV from the digest later, but to let everyone
know:

Southern Australia has been lashed by the most severe storm on record in 100
years with a second storm front due through in the next two hours. Extreme
flooding and tree damage has closed Avalon Airport (but not Tullamarine
Airport)and shut down most of the public transport network.

To give you an idea of the severity, one thunderclap last night registered
nearly 1.0 on the Richter scale at four separate seismographs (the fourth over
80km away).

Its the stuff of science fiction.

http://theage.com.au/articles/2005/02/02/1107228768941.html?oneclick=tru
e

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1295060.htm?fp_news_stor

Brendan 'Neath Southern Skies

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G'day,

According to the gauges here this morning we got a years rain in 16 hours
yesterday. We also had the big Bass Strait ferries and cruise ships come back
in because of the 20m waves they were hitting (which smashed windows). I've
seen heavy rain before (having lived in the tropics and such), but I've never
been in rain so heavy I couldn't my hand in front of my face.

I hope others fared as well as we did (slightly soggy and lost power for a
while but that's it thankfully).

Cheers

> Beth.Fulton@csiro.au wrote:

In Canberra we've had 16 hours rain in the last year. OK, that's a slight
exaggeration.

Still on stage 3 water restrictions, may go to stage 4 if we don't get
greater-than-average rain for 3 of the next 4 years.

We could really have done with some of that rain. All of it, in fact. All we
got (a few days before) was a hailstorm that smashed roofs etc, but didn't
give any worthwhile water.

Bugger.