NSW drought: After three dry years Warialda farm kids see rain for first time
After three bone dry years the skies have opened for farmers David and Jocelyn Wilson whose youngest children have never seen rain. But the Bureau of Meteorology has warned more rain than has fallen recently will be needed to break the drought.
NSW
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At last! After three bone dry years the skies have opened for farmers David and Jocelyn Wilson whose youngest children have never seen rain.
But the Bureau of Meteorology has warned that more rain than has fallen in the last week will be needed to break the drought.
Mr and Mrs Wilson were down to just 40 head of beef cattle on land outside Warialda in north west NSW that normally supports 1,000 head when the storms came.
“It was amazing,” Mrs Wilson said. “We took the children out and they were splashing in the water and having some fun.”
Their children, Digby, 8, Edith, 6, Dugald, 4, and Boyd, 11, months, frolicked in the farm’s dam as 32mm of blessed rain drummed down.
The youngest two had never seen rain and the oldest two could not remember it. They became the heartbreaking face of the drought when their picture sitting on the dry red earth appeared in The Daily Telegraph.
Up until the storm the family was despairing having received only 15mm of a forecast 200mm. “This fall makes a really big difference, it has filled a lot of the dams up,” Mrs Wilson said.
“It means we can sow some fodder for the cattle.” And that means the family can start planning for the future.
Mr Wilson could not keep the smile from his face. When it started raining it felt a bit foreign,” Mr Wilson said. “But it was a delightful sound to hear it drumming on the roof.”
But he knows the family is not out of the woods yet. “We received 49mm at the house but just 20mm on the other side of the property,” he said.
“This at least gives us hope that we may be coming to the end of the drought.”
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But a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said “sustained above average rainfall” was needed for the state to recover from the drought.
“Many regions of NSW have received significant rainfall over recent days. Most of the significant rainfall totals have fallen in regions close to the coast, and that has acted to fill dams and improve stream flows and soil moisture in those areas,” the spokesman said.
Moree, where the Wilson’s farm is situated, received just under 25mm in the last week while Robertson in the Illawarra received the most rain with 705mm falling.
“While January rainfall was welcome for many areas, some of Australia’s worst drought affected regions including large parts of NSW and the Murray Darling Basin have seen below average rainfall for the year to date,” he said.
He said further consistent above average rainfall was needed to overturn the drought. Previous long dries in NSW in 1965 and 1902 were only brought to an end by months of above average rain.
“Recent rainfall will be welcome for many coastal regions, but most drought-affected areas still need sustained above average rainfall to properly recover from the long-term severe deficiencies,” the spokesman said.