South Australia’s summer storm continues, damaging crops, flooding towns, cutting power to homes
UPDATED: Thousands of properties are without power and parts of Port Augusta have been inundated after wild storms left a trail of destruction across South Australia.
- Storm-hit state continues to cop summer battering
- RECAP: How the storm worked its way over the state
- SA POWER NETWORKS: Latest on power outages
THOUSANDS of properties are without power and parts of Port Augusta have been inundated after wild storms left a trail of destruction across SA, including wiping $100 million off a forecast record grain crop.
The storm, the third in three months, lashed Adelaide and the Mount Lofty Ranges from Tuesday, felling trees and damaging homes.
SA Power Networks say about 155,000 customers were affected by the storms and that power was restored to 139,000 of those customers by 3pm Thursday.
That leaves about 16,000 homes without power.
SA Power Networks predicts all power should be restored by this evening.
Meanwhile, a new severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for the North East Pastoral district for damaging winds and heavy rain, as the weather system moves eastwards.
Locations that may be affected include Leigh Creek, Moomba, Marree, Innamincka, Arkaroola and the Strzelecki Track south of Moomba.
Heavy rains may cause flash flooding and produce wind gusts between 90km/h-120km/h.
At the storm’s peak on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, State Emergency Service (SES) fielded about 1600 calls for assistance.
About 100 jobs remain outstanding and SES crews will resume the clean-up on Thursday morning.
People in other parts of South Australia, affected by storms on Tuesday and Wednesday should
■ Keep away from fallen power lines
■ Beware fallen trees and other debris across roads
■ Not drive, ride or walk through floodwaters
■ Keep clear of creeks and storm drains
BATTERED TORRENS CHRISTMAS DISPLAY CLOSED
SA WEATHERS THE STORM FOR PROCLAMATION DAY
STATE RAIN RADAR
Storms batter Port Augusta
The main street at Port Augusta was flooded as 25mm of rain fell between 6pm to 7pm and wind speeds reaching 126km/h.
There were reports of cars still driving through the town and houses knee deep in water, causing serious damage to furniture and electric goods.
SES crews in Port Augusta and Port Pirie attended almost 100 call outs Wednesday night as wind gusts of up to 126km/h swept the region.
SES spokesman John Carr said Port Augusta received 24mm of rain in 25 minutes, leaving crews dealing with localised flooding and fallen trees.
Crews received 58 call outs to Port Augusta in a four-hour period, with a further 27 calls for assistance coming from Port Lincoln.
The wild weather was extremely localised, with residents in nearby Whyalla, Hawker and Clare making no calls for assistance.
Mr Carr said call outs had dropped considerably Thursday morning and crews were looking forward to a “relatively quiet” week ahead.
FLOODING IN PORT AUGUSTA — VIDEO: Kay N Col Minter — Facebook
The storm that smashed the state
Tuesday’s storm was the second-highest December rainfall in Adelaide, while 120km/h winds fell thousands of trees and 350 power lines.
Port Augusta recorded a wind gust of 126km/h at 6:18pm and 25mm of rainfall in less than 30 minutes.
The State Emergency Service (SES) advises that flows in the River Murray remain high. Predicted water levels are likely to cause minor flooding in the shack areas between Cadell and Mannum.
Earlier, The Advertiser photographer Mark Brake captured the moment felled powerlines catapulted a large branch about 10 metres into the air as SES volunteers worked to clear a gum tree that had toppled on to a Crafers West road.
The tree came to rest on powerlines on Charlick Rd and as the SES cut it free, a large piece was thrown into the air as the powerlines recoiled back.
“It surprised me how far that flung,” Metro South SES volunteer Warren Hicks said.
“It was just like a big sling shot.”
It’s another setback for primary producers after hail shredded vineyards, stone fruit and citrus in the Riverland last month and October flooding crippled vegetable growers in the Adelaide Plains.
Primary Producers SA chairman Rob Kerin said the storm was the latest in a series of natural disasters that had ruined an “otherwise fantastic growing season”.
Farmers who had yet to bring in what was proving to be a bumper grain crop could see prices fall between $50-80 a tonne due to a significant downgrade in quality.
“When you’ve got a year like this and you have a fantastic crop sitting out there and have a big rain like this one it’s pretty disheartening,” Mr Kerin said.
Grain Producers SA chief executive Darren Arney predicted the storm had impacted on 5 per cent of the state’s grain crop and would cost growers between $100-200 million.
“Where lots of the rain has fallen either farmers have finished or are half way there but there’s still 3 million tonnes of grain yet to come in,” Mr Arney said.
The storm wasn’t nearly as catastrophic for other industries, which capped off what Bailleu Holst chief economist Daryl Gobbett described as a “real mixed bag” for the state’s farmers.
Mr Kerin said SA farmers were the latest storm event was “just one of those things”.
“People are used to this kind of thing. The farmers who were flooded at Virginia and the ones who copped the storm damage in the Riverland copped a particularly big blow because that will take a long time to recover from,” he said.
Langhorne Creek winemaker Ben Potts said the only concern from the storm would be any potential flooding should the Bremer River, which was rising last night, burst its banks.
“Everything outside of that won’t give us too much grief,” he said.
“If we get a flood it might make things a little bit difficult and vine growth may be too vigorous.”
Up to 48mm had fallen across the Clare Valley over Tuesday night and Wednesday and Clare Valley Wine Grape Growers Association president Troy Van Dulken said apart for some downy mildew, the rain would be welcome.
“Really at the moment I think it it’s pretty good news for us in the long term,” he said. “If we get hot weather coming up it’s perfect conditions for having big crops ... and less money paid out for irrigating crops.
South Australia’s unseasonably cold and wet spring has meant some cherry growers will be harvesting into late January.
Uraidla cherry grower Grant Wotton, who is among a few growers still harvesting the summer fruit, expected the 110mm of rain will have caused splitting to some of the crops.
“We’ve got about 30-40 per cent (left to harvest) but wouldn’t want to put a figure on the damage,” he said, adding they still had to assess their crop.
“We’ll still keep picking, it just means it will cost us a bit more to pick as there will be waste.”
Balaklava farmer Grant McPharlin and his family have an anxious wait over the next week to determine the damage to the grain crops they are yet to reap.
The family runs a large farm on the outskirts of the Mid North town while daughter Tegan captains the women’s Strikers Twenty20 cricket team in between helping out on the family property.
Their harvesting efforts had already been hampered by hot weather over Christmas and rain before that.
“The hot weather slowed us down,” Mr McPharlin said.
“But we were out there day and night trying to finish off.”
Tuesday’s torrential rain has taken the sheen off the remaining crop which was ripe and ready for harvest before the rainfall made the ground too soggy for heavy machinery.
“The wheat heads are usually golden but now they’re black and washed out,” he said yesterday standing in a half harvested field.
“The rain reduces the value of the wheat, washing away the test weight and protein.”
“Lentil farmers have got it even worse, they would be quite nervous.”
For farmers in the Mid North it’s now a game of waiting and watching the skies.
“We won’t really know how bad it is until we get out there and start trying to harvest again,” Mr McPharlin said.
“We probably won’t start until Friday and then Tegan wouldn’t be happy if we missed her game on Saturday and then suddenly it’s 2017.”
— with Mitch Mott