IT CAME down hard and fast and the news from the Bureau of Meteorology is the land will not be drying out in a hurry, after Friday’s deluge which caused flash-flooding across the region.

While the Casterton township received very little of Friday’s rain – just five millimetres in the 24 hours to 9am Saturday, neighbouring communities at Wando Vale, Carapook, Sandford, Clover Flat, Dunrobin and Strathdownie copped a beating.

While not officially recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology, some farms recorded up to “two inches” and “60 mill’s” of rain in the gauges, all falling within two hours or less and with little or no warning.

At the intersection of the Casterton-Edenhope and Satimer Roads, Wando Vale, the road was completely inundated and traffic brought to a halt, with culverts that normally keep the rain off the road surface completely overwhelmed by the downpour.

At Sandford and Clover Flat, paddocks and roadside culverts filled up and excess water made use of the roads themselves as exit points to get to lower ground, Scott Lane tipping 20 millimetres of water from the gauge on his property on Trevallas Road, after just half an hour.

At Strathdownie, even the carefully constructed drainage scheme could not cope with the downpour and at least one farm was quickly turned into an inland sea – the property owners unable to tell in places where dams ended, except for one dam bank where livestock took refuge from the water.

Dislodged guard rails and massive piles of debris left on flattened creek banks, tell a similar story at Carapook.

A small creek normally runs just a few metres wide down a gully and through a culvert under the northern end of Fetherstonaugh Road.

Saturday morning’s inspection by local residents showed the water had cut massive swathe wide down the gully, at least as wide as the guard rails and with enough force to completely dislodge the rails running over the culvert on the roadside and leaving massive piles of debris resting against nearby trees.

Cancellations underway

WHILE hazards caused by flash flooding have subsided, the remaining water and its affects, as well as more rain predicted this week, have resulted in the cancellation of several district events, including this weekend’s much-anticipated return of Rotary’s M.A.G.I.C program.

Cancelled for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, local Rotarians, art and garden lovers were eagerly awaiting the return to the open garden program, with catering, market stalls and entertainment scheduled at each of the three venues to be opened to the public.

Reports from one garden of massive waterlogging were quickly followed by a second and Rotarians made the heartbreaking decision on Monday, to cancel the event.

It is unclear whether the M.A.G.I.C. schedule will be re-set for later in the year, in drier weather.

Casterton’s Little Athletics meeting and junior and women’s cricket, set for Friday night, were the first victims of the day’s weather, with concerns about thunder and lightning storms as well as the wet surface at Island Park, contributing to the decision.

For the second week in a row, Hamilton District Cricket association’s round was cancelled, the association’s president Lloyd Ilett reporting “there hasn’t been a start to the season like this since the early to mid-1970’s when cricket didn’t get a start until late in October-early November due to the unseasonal spring weather”.

“Rain has washed out all lower grade men’s competitions and all but the first two rounds of the A grade competition which would have enjoyed playing round four on Saturday,” he said.

Mr Ilett said while Casterton’s new turf was ready to be used for the first time on Saturday, with Casterton township only receiving the five millimetres of rain during the south-west storm, other venues did not fare so well.

Of the other grounds in the competition, a Saturday morning match-committee inspection determined “only Mitchell Park was even close to being playable”.

“But it was felt that the safety of the players wasn’t guaranteed and the decision to cancel the round was made,” he said.

“There may have been days in the past when cricket was called off due to the weather, but nothing like what we have seen this summer.”

Also missed for two years due to the pandemic, Wayne and Lerida Southern were preparing to host their Diggers Rest Memorial Service at their Dunrobin property, this Friday – now another victim of the weather.

First held three years ago, the service brings together serving and ex-servicemen and women from Australia’s defence forces, in particular, the Patriots Military Motorcycle Club, with members travelling from chapters in up to four states.

Scheduled for this Friday, Mr and Mrs Southern made the call on Monday to cancel the event, as they were “walking around in a couple of inches of water already” and further rain scheduled this week, would only exacerbate the situation.

From the bureau

WHILE the outlying areas of the district were lashed with rain on Friday, Casterton recorded just five millimetres of rain, followed up by a new record on Monday – still far short of Friday’s reported downpours.

Casterton recorded a 17.2 millimetres of rain on Monday – the highest single day total of the month so far, according to data from the Bureau of Meteorology.

Totals recorded on Saturday and Sunday meant an accumulative 25 millimetres had fallen on the town over the weekend.

It brings the total for the month so far up to 69.4 millimetres – nearly 40 per cent more than the historical average.

More rain is to be expected as October wraps up, with up to 15 millimetres possible on Sunday and up to eight on Monday.

Temperatures were also at their highest in the weekend gone as Friday recorded both the highest minimum and the highest maximum of the month, at 12.9 and 24.9 degrees respectively.

The lowest temperature recorded in October was 1.7 degrees on Sunday 9 and the lowest minimum was 12.1 degrees on Thursday 13.

Temperatures for the coming week are expected to mostly range between 15 and 20 degrees.

The BOM climate outlook for November expects a high likelihood of the heavier rainfall continuing, with a 32 per cent chance of Casterton being unusually wet and recording more than 63.5 millimetres of rain.

Casterton is also looking at potentially cooler days across the month, with just a 32 per cent chance of maximum temperatures being above median and a 29 per cent chance of being unusually cool.

However, minimum temperatures have a 72 per cent chance of being above median and a 51 per cent chance of being unusually warm.

Historically, Casterton has recorded average maximums of 22.4 degrees and minimums of nine degrees.