Boats in paddocks, cars under water and widespread damage as heavy rain brings pleasure and pain to south coast

Drenching rain has been a mixed blessing for the south coast with some residents counting the cost of property damage while farmers in the region’s driest reaches celebrate drought-breaking showers. In Manypeaks, Robert Potter used a boat to check stock in paddocks on the family farm after more than 125mm fell in less than 48 hours, causing dams to overflow. “I was thinking about hooking my surfboard up tomorrow so we’ll have to see how we go,” he said. Mr Potter said he had been worried about how they were going to cope over summer with so little water. But that was no longer an issue. “It’s been a really steady rain over the two days and it’s been really nice soaking rain,” he said. Meanwhile, in Albany last night, a driver had to climb out through the passenger side of his vehicle after it was engulfed by water. Almost 100mm has fallen in Albany in the past two days, breaking records for the most daily August rainfall recorded at the Albany Airport weather station. Western Power restored power to thousands of homes across Albany last night, before more than 1500 homes were left without power in the Denmark area this morning. SES volunteers were called out to about 30 jobs, mostly related to flooding and roof damage. They sandbagged a home on Pierce Street in Denmark which was hit by flash flooding. Albany woman Tracey McGregor shared a photo of her garden shed which “went sailing” overnight as winds gusted to 80km/h. The weather system which brought 24 hours of heavy rain to the south coast was accompanied by an unusual and damaging swell. The swell was coming into Albany from the south-east, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning that the “unusual swell direction” could expose typically protected areas of the coastline to big waves. But without the deluge, it was shaping as a disastrous season for many farms around the Wellstead, Jerramungup, Boxwood Hill and Gairdner areas. In Gairdner, where the State Government declared water deficiency last month, Brad and Cristen Peacock received more than 90mm. Most of WA’s 12 active water deficiency declaration areas fall within the Great Southern. After a crushingly dry two-year period, the Peacocks decided to sell most of their sheep flock this year instead of cutting back on their cropping program for a third consecutive year. They have been carting water since January to the property 130km north-east of Albany. “I think in the late 1960s and early 70s they had a couple of dry years, but the last three years have been the worst in farming history out here,” Mr Peacock said. A social event called Operation Care was held in Boxwood Hill last month to give farmers in that area a chance to unwind and relieve some of the mental stress of the dry conditions. In Wellstead, Shane Davy received more than 100mm on his farm in the same 24-hour period. Some farms in Boxwood Hill had less than half of that, but it was still their most significant rainfall since 2017. Mr Peacock said there would be a lot of relieved families across the region. “Already, this is the best rainfall event we’ve had for three years,” he said. “We’re starting to get some run-off into dams. The season was looking very, very poor. “I’m not sure we’re going to get to average yields but it was looking very poor.”